Life is Overrated
by ShadowofaSoul2000
Summary: Yugi has been subject to life-threatening abuse for years, and the older he gets the more it threatens his sanity. After stumbling on an unlikely friend he hopes for a semblance of normalcy; but this man could be as unstable as Yugi.
1. The Breaking Point

Soulless: So, here I am with the first chapter of the first story that I'm writing for other people to see and it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would. I don't know why.

Yugi: Maybe it's because it's really not your story.

Yami: Yea. It originally belonged to your friend and you're just writing it on your account.

Soulless: Okay, well, yes. But get two things straight. One: It's not like I stole it from her, and Two: OH MY GOD WE ESTABLISHED THIS ALREADY! I mean seriously, the two of you used to work for her and you didn't read her bio? Or the note that she posted officially announcing her resignation?

Yami: And how do _you_ know big words like that?

Soulless: I'm going into eleventh grade, you dumb-ass. Throws bomb at Yami

Yugi: Shouldn't we start now, guys? You know, do the disclaimer and stuff?

Yami and Soulless: Trying to blow each other's heads off

Yugi: O-kay then, I'll do it myself. **Disclaimer:** Nobody in or writing this story owns anything copyrighted, patented, or in any other way something that belongs to someone else. Us anime characters don't even own ourselves….

NOTE: The intro to the story is in Yugi's POV, but the rest is in a normal POV.

NOTE: … Author notes/ my chat with the characters.  
(…) Stuff that isn't anyone talking and part of the actual story  
'…' Thinking  
"…" Talking  
Time/scene change  
Flashbacks  
_Italics _Emphasized words  
_'blah'_ Quotes songs, poems, things some famous dead people said…

Hey, Yugi Motou here, and I'm telling my story to all of those less fortunate kids out there. All I'm saying is that I used to be one of them. Yeah, right. I wish I could say that. What am I talking about? You say. Well, let me give you my status in the world right now.

I'm 15 years old, going on 16. Ever since I can remember, (let me rephrase that, since I can barely remember what I had for breakfast. The last time I ate was a few days ago, though). Ever since I was 4 years old, my dad has made my life as miserable and has tortured me as much as possible. Yes, I'm an abused child.

So, here's the deal: every day, I have to get up early to clean up from the previous night. Believe it or not, my dad has a job. When he comes home from said job, he examines everything in the house. If it's a little dirty, he beats me. If it's spotless, he beats me though not as hard. Either way I lose. He's done everything in the book and then some. Just about the only thing he hasn't done is rape me. But that'll come, you wait and see. Okay, after he beats me, he goes out again. He's never said where he goes and the only time I asked he beat me. Personally, I think he goes out to a bar and then follows a slut into her house. Hey, wait a minute. If he really does that, it would make him a slut too. That fucker.

The story you are about to read is the story of my life. It's pretty sad. Unfortunately, I have to hand the story over to the author. SHIT! Oh, um did I say shit, I meant whoopdeedoo. Aw, what the hell. Of course I meant shit! On with the author's screwed up version of my life…

**

* * *

**

Yugi has awoken to many different events. Pain, anger, the alarm going off, and his dad shouting down the stairs that he wants Yugi now or suffer the consequences. But not today. Today, he awoke to almost choking on his blood. See, it had been in his mouth all night and he was constantly waking up to spit it out so he wouldn't choke. After that he would usually fall back asleep. He would've too, had it not been for the alarm clock going off at that exact moment.

'Fucking alarm clock keeps getting me up earlier every day. I knew the damn thing was busted.' He thought. He would have said it aloud but he wasn't sure if his dad was home or not.

Yugi groaned and struggled to sit up on the sheets. His eyes were blurry and they took a while to focus. At first, he couldn't remember where he was. Then he realized he was in his room, in the basement. Yugi hated it down there. The floor was concrete, the walls were concrete and the ceiling was made of wood beams, plaster and insulation. The two latter substances usually fell on him during the night. There used to be about five windows, but his dad closed them off with cement so if you walked into the room for the first time, you would never know there were once windows down there at all. The floor slanted downward toward his bed so water often ran into his bed from the leaky pipes on the other side of the room.

Speaking of bed, Yugi's was only a sheet or two. He had them ever since his dad forced him down into the basement. There was hardly anything left of the sheets, and what was left of them was soaked in blood. They acted as bandages for poor little Yugi many more times than he could count. Now, they were more bloody than he was, if possible.

The worst thing about the basement was that it smelled like death. The blood on his sheets dried a long while ago, but each night they would get wet yet again. Every time they got wet and dried was like torture. Dried blood smelled horrible and moist even worse. The blood was never cleaned up so what had dried a year ago was still there and it was starting to build up in layers. It made him light-headed and he passed out more often than not. The death stench also made him vomit some kind of shitty bile.

He curled the sheets around himself and waited. Waited for his dad to come and get him. To Yugi it felt like hours before he crawled out of the sheets. He looked at the door atop the stairs, the only way out, and saw nothing. Nothing stirred, not even a mouse. Seriously, there was a mouse that lived in the corner of the basement. What a rabid thing it was, too. When Yugi was younger he tried to make friends with the mouse and ended up with a bluish bite mark on his hand. He never went near the thing again.

Looking at the mouse Yugi thought, 'Stupid mouse, or rat, or whatever you are. It's a good thing you didn't have rabies. You would have been the first shit I killed, next to my fucking dad. Damn you, you bitch. Your mother was a bitch too.'

Praying his dad wasn't home, and praying for his life to be spared if he was home, (even though he didn't think he was) Yugi threw the clock at the wall. It made contact and broke into fifty or so pieces. Yugi had a triumphant smile on his face that quickly faded when he heard the door open and slam shut. His dad stalked down the stairs with a menacing glare on his face. Yugi gulped as his dad hauled him up by his shirt collar and threw him against the wall.

"I'm gonna say this nice, and if you give me the answer I want, you might not get hurt. MIGHT. So, what the hell happened here?"

Yugi shuddered. That tone of voice meant trouble for him no matter what his dad said. He refused to speak. There was no way he was telling his dad that he smashed the alarm clock. Unfortunately, the silence only angered Yugi's dad even more. Before he could blink, his dad was on him, pinning Yugi in the air by his neck and letting his feet dangle half a foot off the ground.

He tried not to emit a sound, but he couldn't breathe. Yugi coughed violently and his dad slightly let his grip loosen. Then he forcefully shoved him against the wall and leaned in close so they were only inches apart. Yugi could smell the alcohol and cigarette smoke on his breath.

"What did you fucking do, you worthless piece of shit!" no answer. "Answer me. And do it NOW!"

Making up his mind, Yugi weakly pointed to the wall where the remains of the clock lay. When his dad looked over and saw the clock, Yugi could see the rage growing from the side of his face. He turned back to see Yugi's head down in defeat. A choking sob escaped him.

His dad's eyes narrowed to small slits. "Oh, no. You think I would let you go because you seem sorry?" Yugi whimpered. He was going to get it now. "Don't give me that. You're so fucking weak. You're a worthless piece of shit, you always have been and you always will be. I hate it almost as much as I hate you." He paused and turned to face the clock. "You see that alarm clock over there? You broke it and now you're gonna pay for what you did."

With that, he punched the side of his son's face causing it to hit the rough wall and cut open. Oddly enough, Yugi didn't cry out. There was no more pain for him to feel anymore. His dad hit him again, this time sending the back of his head into the wall.

Yugi felt a sharp pain in his head and when he looked up the world was sideways. His dad was staring down at him with a sick, twisted grin, one to match his sick, twisted mind. The world was spinning. Yugi could see a small trickle of blood flow from his head. He was feeling light-headed. It would be all over soon…

For now.

As his dad was walking off, he stopped at the top of the stairs. "I'll be late for work if I stick around here. You made a whole hell of a lot of mess last night. I want it cleaned up by the time I get back. Either way, we WILL be continuing this when I get done. Oh, and by the way, you have a special surprise headed your way tomorrow."

He turned and slammed the door on his way out leaving Yugi to wonder what really was in store for him. He just didn't understand. What was so special about tomorrow?

All of a sudden, his eyes widened. "My _16th birthday_ is tomorrow!" He shouted. "What could he do to me? Oh god, what _would_ he do to me?" his voice was low and shaky as he lay there, almost on the verge of tears.

Yugi found renewed strength and sat up, curling himself into a little ball. He finally broke down and cried, letting his tears fall down his cheeks and onto the ground below. There was nothing he could do. He was going to die tomorrow.

After a while, Yugi pulled himself up off the ground. He looked back at where the blood was and got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He threw up, adding more blood to the pile. That was all Yugi could throw up, blood. That was the only thing in his stomach at the moment since he hadn't eaten anything in days. Yugi felt dizzy as he slowly made his way to and up the stairs. He held onto the railing for support but it didn't give much. He stumbled and tripped a lot and almost didn't make it, but he was determined to make it out of the darkness and into the light.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he opened the door and fell exhausted onto the living room floor. Yugi stayed like that for a few minutes before the darkness of this world trapped him in its own. Right when that happened, one thought ran through his mind.

"Why?" he whispered. Then his head fell limply to the floor.

* * *

A few hours later, Yugi woke up with a massive headache. Probably because his dad came home and slammed his head against the wall.

"What did I tell you to do!" he shouted making Yugi's headache increase ten times.

"C-cl-ean th-the h-house." The tears started coming to his eyes, but he didn't care. He was scared out of his mind and nothing could change that.

"That's right." a sudden calm air came over his dad, which left just as quick. "And did you do it!" silence. "Did you clean the fucking house, you worthless piece of shit!"

"N-no." he shook his head. There was no escaping now. Like some dead guy he learned about in school said: _'Nothing is inevitable except death and taxes.'_ Well in this case, only death because his dad didn't pay his taxes…

His dad held him close. Yugi could smell the alcohol and smoke mixing and lingering in his face. He tried to avert his dad's gaze and ended up getting thrown on the floor against the couch.

"I have an idea for you." He sneered. "Stay here. If you move this'll be a lot more painful for you. And a lot more fun for me." He started laughing maniacally. The drunken voice was echoing in Yugi's ears making him cower in fear.

Yugi watched his dad walk into the kitchen. He heard glass breaking. It sure was taking a long time to get something… Wait, he knew what was coming.

'On the count of three backward, I'll make a dash for the front door. If I can make it, I'll be out of this hell hole for good.' Yugi planned.

Three… his dad was coming through the door…

Two… he smiled and the blade shone in the fading moonlight… It's almost morning for all of you who didn't catch that.

One… 'Now!'

Yugi rolled out of the way as the blade descended upon him and ran for the door. His hand was on the doorknob when he was jerked back into something hard. Something cold and flat was placed at his throat.

"I warned you…" was all that his dad said.

The blade was pushed into his neck. Yugi's crystalline tears glinted as they splashed onto the blade. There was no cut, but thinking there was Yugi moved away. Now there was a gash on his collarbone.

Yugi gasped, pulling away. "P-pl-please no mo-more." That was it. That was the breaking point. He couldn't take it anymore. He was going to make him stop somehow. Just somehow…

His dad laughed and loosened his grip on Yugi's neck a little. Yugi took that opportunity to slip out and run down the hall towards the back room. He swung around and doubled back to get to the front door. The figure behind him lunged and caught his arm right before he reached the door.

'Fuck!' Yugi thought. 'The door! I was almost there… I'll get you back dammit.' He cursed.

Instead of putting the blade to Yugi's neck like he did last time, he took Yugi's left wrist and twisted it until he heard a sickening, but satisfying crack.

Pain shot up the length of Yugi's arm. And it _hurt._ There was a stern look on Yugi's face even though he knew his arm was broken and he wouldn't be able to defend himself for the next onslaught.

"I've had enough. Enough of you always beating me." This was a bold move, but Yugi took the risk.

"Is that so?" his dad mocked. "I've had enough with you as well. You're so weak. There isn't even an ounce of pity or regret in my heart towards you."

"Maybe there will be when I rip it out and end this whole thing." Yugi turned to him. "I'm not a worthless piece of shit as you claim, dad." There was poison in his voice when that last word came out.

"I'll SHOW you how worthless you are!" His dad pushed him against the wall in the back of the hallway. "And I'll show you your place too. After this you will never disrespect me again." He finished, leaning in towards Yugi's face.

Yugi didn't know what that last statement meant when suddenly rough lips were placed on top of his soft, pink ones. Now he knew what was going on and he didn't like it. He tried to push his dad away forgetting about the broken arm. The pain was almost as intolerable as the rough lips and pungent breath forced on him.

Yugi closed his eyes pretending it wasn't real. Tears fell from his round, violet eyes. His dad removed his lips from Yugi's to lick and nip at the soft cheek flesh where the tears ran.

He moved his head to the side to avoid the feeling of flesh on flesh. This was something he never wanted to experience again. His dad slapped him across the bruised face adding another one.

"From now on you are MY whore and I expect you to be good. Got that?" He said, leaning in to take Yugi's lips for another bruising "kiss."

Yugi only had the choice of complying with the threat. His dad parted his mouth and bit Yugi's bottom lip hungrily. He gasped, granting his dad the entrance he wanted. His eyes widened. He was shocked, to say the least.

'What the hell does this bastard think he's doing?' Yugi said to himself.

His dad started exploring his mouth, savoring the taste of him. It was when his tongue went to the back of Yugi's mouth that his throat tightened. That gave Yugi an idea.

Yugi's dad suddenly pulled away. "How's that for a start?"

Yugi just glared at him. 'Fuck! He ruined my plan. I would have loved to see him bleed for once.' He thought, licking his bleeding lower lip.

"No good? Well we'll have to fix that, won't we?"

Yugi started to get angry, but fear was still dominant. "No, you bastard." He was letting his mouth get the better of him again, but he didn't care. He would rather die than get raped constantly.

"What did you just say to me?" his dad seethed.

"You heard me. You're a bastard. Plain as day."

There was no answer. He stood there, holding Yugi a couple of inches above the ground by his collar. Then he suddenly plunged, putting all of his body weight into slamming Yugi into the wall.

During the impact, Yugi's head hit the wall hard, and his ankle twisted in a 180-degree circle. To him it felt like being in a car accident and going through the windshield. Only, this was really happening, and he was practically going through the wall. Blood found its way into Yugi's mouth and only then did his dad let him off the wall.

He fell to the floor with a soft thud. Slowly, he got to his feet. 'I'm not beaten yet.' Yugi thought. He stood there panting heavily. With every exhale, blood spurted out of his mouth. He was wheezing and felt weaker by the second. He barely caught what his dad said as he walked out the door.

"You're too much work for me alone, bitch. I'm gonna get some of my pals, and then we'll see how good you fare." His dad started laughing as he locked the door, just in case.

Yugi's legs finally gave way. He sat there panting for a while as his clothing started to get soaked with blood. He needed to change. He took one painful shuddering breath and stood up.

Yugi staggered to the window and watched his dad drive off in his rusted truck. "What am I going to do now!" he wailed.

He started beating his head against the window, as if that would bring an idea. After about five or six times, the window cracked and broke, leaving a small hole and a nasty cut on Yugi's forehead.

Cold air rushed through the hole, hitting Yugi's small, fragile body making it go semi-numb. All he had on was a pair of pants, still in fairly good condition, and a shredded tank top. When cold air mixes with blood, it gets even colder.

'There might be some clothes in that other room across the hall.' He shivered. It was getting cold in there. Yugi started to feel the pain in his ankle, so he limped to said room.

He turned the knob and swung the door open. This was the room. He had been there many times before, and he dreaded all of them. On the same wall as the door, in the left-hand corner was a set of chains for the neck, wrists and ankles. Studying them further, he found there was something on the chains that connected the ankles and wrists together. Then there was a second chain attached to the neck ring that extended through a loop that formed when you joined the four other rings together. Yugi cautiously limped over to the chains and pulled the second chain. When he pulled it, the neck ring went further up. Suddenly, Yugi remembered…

Flashback (Yugi was five)

"Daddy, what are those?" Yugi asked. He had nearly forgotten what had happened a year ago and wasn't that scared to talk to his dad anymore.

"They're chains, can't you tell, bitch?" His dad yelled over the drilling as he was putting the last bolt into place.

"But why are you putting them in my room?" Yugi asked after his dad was done. Yugi didn't like the idea of having chains basically at the foot of the bed.

"Because this won't be your room much longer. Once that happens, these are gonna come in handy."

Yugi shuddered and nodded, taking a few steps back. His dad came up to him and slapped him across the face.

"Get to bed, bitch." He said calmly before slamming the door behind him.

End Flashback

Yugi shook his head and went over to the dresser. He opened the bottom drawer and took out a clean shirt. After discarding his old one, he turned and came face-to-face with his reflection. He stared at it in disgust. He could see all of his bones, and where he used to have soft, pale skin all he could see was black and blue bruises and cuts. A few of the cuts, like the ones on his collarbone and the side of his forehead, were still flowing freely. There were bags under his once sparkling violet eyes from lack of sleep. And his tri-colored spiky hair was flying every which way in a tangled mess. The golden bangs were splotched with blood and dirt, making them tri-colored in themselves. The rest of his hair was completely wild, the magenta tips basically knotted into the rest of his ebony colored hair.

He sighed and slipped the new shirt over his head, being careful not to move his broken arm too much. Yugi decided to leave his pants, the only thing wrong was that they were completely covered in blood. Does anybody else think that Shadow liked blood just a little too much?

Yugi pulled open all the other drawers, but didn't see any jackets or long sleeved shirts. Then he went over to the armoire and the drawers under the bed, only to find those completely empty.

'So much for going out and ending all my troubles here,' Yugi thought sorrowfully 'But I still have to get out of here. Whether I freeze to death in the process or not is not up to me.'

He opened the last drawer, and found a small shoebox. Inside the shoebox, there was a note and pieces of what seemed to be a puzzle. Better yet, the pieces were solid gold!

"He couldn't have known it was there, or he would have sold it a long time ago." Yugi said with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

He put the note in his back pocket and tucked the box under his good arm, silently closing the door behind him as he walked out. He went back over to the window and set the box on the floor. He was a little warmer and the wind had stopped coming in.

"I have to get out. But the door's locked…" he trailed off looking at the window. He had an idea. Yugi limped to the opposing wall and rammed himself into the window. After repeating this several times, the window broke and Yugi was sent flying out to land in a pile of snow. The white snow was quickly stained red from the cuts Yugi got when he broke the window.

He walked back into the house and into his old room. He looked at his reflection, realizing he looked worse than before. He found a comb and started to comb out his hair. The snow surprisingly had gotten most of the knots out. There was nothing else he could do, so he picked the box back up and went back over to the window.

As he was walking/limping, he passed by the basement door, hopefully for the last time. He painfully brought his left hand up to rest on the door and brought his head to the door too. Yugi cried as the memory of his first day down there came to him again.

Flashback (Now he's seven)

Yugi was sleeping peacefully on his bed in his room. Light filtered through the window hitting him, causing him to stir in his sleep. His eyes fluttered open to reveal exotic, sparkling, light amethysts. He sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes while yawning.

He then looked at the foot of the bed at the chains. He sat there staring at them for a while until his dad came in to disrupt the peace.

"You're welcome to live in them now, if you like." He gave a malicious smirk. "Or you can wait until later. Either way, they'll be your home sooner or later."

Yugi shuddered. "I'd rather be anywhere but here." He mumbled, just loud enough for his dad to catch.

"Glad to hear it. Remember when I said this wouldn't be your room much longer?"

Yugi nodded. He remembered, unfortunately.

"Good. 'Cause this is that time. Now get over here."

Yugi cautiously got off the bed and made his way over to his dad, who had his hands behind his back. When Yugi was about a half a foot away, he was motioned to stay as a bundle was thrown at him. It was a couple of sheets.

"W-what are these for?" Yugi asked shakily.

"You'll see. Follow me." That rhymes! His dad was losing his calm. Soon he would snap.

Yugi shook his head. "I-I ch-changed my m-mind. I want t-to sta-ay h-here." He backed up against the far wall and slid to the floor, crying.

He snapped. "Damn it, you bitch! Get your ass over here now!" He waited a couple of seconds, but Yugi still didn't move.

He strode over to the wall and hauled Yugi up by his hair. "You do what I say when I say it or else." He whispered dangerously into his son's ear.

"Or what?" Yugi retorted.

There was no answer. Instead, his dad dropped him in the middle of the floor and kicked him in the stomach repeatedly. One final kick sent Yugi into the opposite wall. His head hit the doorpost and he fell to the floor.

"Get up." His dad seethed. Yugi obeyed, struggling to get off the floor and losing blood in the process. He was then dragged to a door at the end of the hallway.

His dad swung the door open. "Welcome to your new home." That said, he pushed Yugi down the stairs and threw the sheets down after him. He smirked and locked the door after shutting it.

Yugi was dazed by the whole thing as he stood up and wobbled over to the stairs. At the top, he tried to open the door only to find that it was locked.

"Let me out. Please, let me out!" He cried, banging on the door. Suddenly a knife was thrust through the door and a "Shut up!" was heard.

Yugi knew it would only go downhill from there.

End Flashback

Yugi slid his hand off the door and looked at the knife. 'I'd never be able to pull it out…' He thought.

He had to get out of there. Who knows when his dad would be coming back! It could even be now. He turned and stepped out the window into the frigid whirlwind of snow and ice better known as winter.

'Today is my birthday.' He said to himself. 'My dad is planning something and I have to be out of here before he gets back.'

He started to run, but then noticed that he left footprints. A yawning Great Dane came out from behind a bush. When she spotted Yugi, she started wagging her tail furiously.

"Hey, Snapper." He said sadly. "You know what he does to me, and I can't take it anymore. I-I have to get out of here, girl. You should stay here though." He paused, but the quickly added, "It's not like I want to leave you, but I have to. I don't know why, I just do."

Snapper whined, as if she understood what Yugi was saying.

"I'm sorry, girl. But I'll be back. You can count on it." Yugi left the front yard after patting Snapper behind the ears.

He came back again. "Can you do me a favor? Can you cover my trail for a ways?" Snapper started wagging her tail again, only, on the ground this time. Soon there wasn't a trace that he'd even been there. He turned to leave again and Snapper was at his heels, covering his tracks with her own. The ones she couldn't get with her feet she got with her tail.

Snapper returned to the yard after a while. She was whining as she watched him leave and wanted to go too. But she stayed, and lay down in the snow, watching with sad eyes as her master left. Snapper was worried for her master. She was well aware of what the other human did to him, and she hated it. Boy, would she like to take a bite out of his ass. But no, this time she was worried because her master wasn't properly dressed and it was so cold. She got up and went into the house, watching him, always watching her master. Before the two of them knew, it had started to snow.

* * *

Ryou: Hello, all!

Yugi: Yami and Soulless are still fighting and I don't know when they'll stop so I've invited Ryou and Bakura over so I can talk to someone.

Bakura: sees fighting and immediately joins it

Ryou: Bakura no! turns to Yugi Why did you have to bring _him_ here too?

Yugi: Well, I thought he would want to talk.

Ryou: sweatdrop This is exactly why I wonder why people call you smart…

Yugi: glares You know what, just help me get them off each other before the studio is burned to the ground.

Ryou: Good idea, but exactly _how_ are we gonna do that?

Yugi: Follow my lead! jumps into dust cloud of fighting psychos

Ryou: Oh, why me?

Weird announcer dude #1: Will Yugi and Ryou stop Yami, Bakura and Soulless before the studio burns to the ground? Tune in next chapter to-

Soulless: (muffled, in background) Shut up, you stupid bastard! blows weird announcer dude #1's head off

Yami, Bakura and Soulless continue to fight while Yugi and Ryou try to pull them apart.

Three hours later

Yugi: BYE RYOU! Thanks for the help!

Ryou: Your welcome, Yugi. But next time you want someone to talk to, _please_ ask somebody else, okay?

Yugi: Okay. looks down at Yami Say goodbye to Bakura.

Yami: No.

Yugi: yanks on leash Say goodbye to Bakura, dammit!

Yami: Ow! glares at Yugi mumbles Bye.

Yugi: smiles and pats Yami on the head Good boy!

Soulless: You know, a dog collar really suits you, Yami. snickers

Yami: Haha, very funny. At least I'm not the one in the straight jacket. smirks Or the one tied up and gagged in the back of a wagon.

Bakura: mmmpfh, mfphhm, mmphfm!

Ryou: I heard that, Bakura. One more crack like that and I'm locking your knives away for a year. And I mean it this time.

Bakura: mmpf fuh!

Ryou: _Bakura…_ is cheerful again Well, we've got to be going now. Goodbye!

Yugi: Yeah, we'll see you guys later!

Ryou and Bakura: leave through weird portal thingie

Soulless: banging head on wall _I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle…_

Yami: Do you think we should've gagged him, too?

Yugi: Yeah, probably. Oh well. Too late now.

Yami: So, uhh, what now?

Yugi: I don't know. I don't think Soulless thought of anything past this.

Yami: Yeah. I'm surprised he thought of this much as it is.

Yugi: pouts Don't be mean, Yami.

Yami: Oh, right. Sorry. Any chance that you'll take this collar off any time soon?

Yugi: No.

Weird announcer dude #2: What will Yami do now? Will Yugi ever take off the dog collar? And does Soulless have enough sanity to continue writing?

Soulless: still banging head on wall _London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…_

Weird announcer dude #2: Uhh, scratch that last question. Stay tuned to next chapter to find out the answer to the other two!

So, umm, yea. Wow, I think I was high or something when I wrote that. And for all the people that are wondering, no, being in a straight jacket isn't that bad. It makes you feel warm and safe, and it makes it feel like the whole world is a fun and happy place. And you don't want to know how I know that. So I think that's all for now, (cause I can't think of anything else) and until next chapter I'm out.

_7-11-05_ (heh, 7-11…)


	2. The Worst Day Ever

Chapter 2: The Worst Day Ever

NOTE: … Author notes/ my chat with the characters.  
(…) Stuff that isn't anyone talking and part of the actual story  
'…' Thinking  
"…" Talking  
Time/scene change those grayish line things  
\\\…/ Flashbacks  
_Italics_ Emphasized words  
_'Blah'_ Quotes songs, poems, things some famous dead people said…

* * *

It was snowing. A snowflake landed on Yugi's nose and lingered there for a moment before melting. More came down, landing on his cheeks and now outstretched tongue. Suddenly the snow came down harder and the wind picked up speed. It whipped Yugi's hair into his face and stung his eyes. He turned his back to the wind, the numbing air hitting his cold, bleeding, unprotected body.

He stopped for a brief moment to look back at his house before turning the corner. Yugi shook his head as he gazed upon the sad excuse for a house he had. The white paint was almost all the way chipped off, showing the pale-green color underneath. Some of the green had peeled off too and under that there was a dark brownish-red color. All of the bushes were scraggly and the weight of the snow made them sink to the ground in a messy heap. Half of the snow in the front yard was blood red and the large window in the front was broken, the glass strewn about the lawn.

Sighing, Yugi turned away and continued to walk down the street and hopefully to a home away from home. He crossed to the right side of the main street, the opposite side of his avenue. Unfortunately, this meant that his left side got the majority of the wind blowing his way. He shivered and whimpered a bit; it was so cold.

'Shit!' he thought. 'I never knew how cold it could get out here.'

Yugi pressed on until he felt he could go no longer. He was panting and his body felt numb from head to toe. He stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, for fear if he moved an inch, he would faint from being numb or from sheer exhaustion. The fact that he was still bleeding profusely didn't help much either.

As Yugi stood there he thought, 'This isn't what I wanted. Okay, so before I said that if I freeze I freeze, but I realize now that I want to live. Was I really expecting someone with a kind enough heart to take in a homeless boy on his birthday? Yes. Now, we don't always get what we want do we? No. Especially not me. Everything about my life has been one big run-on sentence. Sadly enough, that sentence will end before I know it. I just wanted to have a normal, happy life, away from my father. But does anyone care? No. Will anyone ever care? No. No one cares about me, not anymore…' he finished, a tear leaking out the corner of his eye.

Yugi looked back in the direction of his house again. No, he couldn't call it his house, more like a place he once lived. More tears came as he ran as fast as he could with his limp away from that hellhole that held his memories.

The snow was slowly starting to form into hail crystals. They were about the size of grapes. Whizzing through the air, they pelted mercilessly on Yugi's body as he tried to run. He lost his balance and fell into the frigid, raw snow. He couldn't move and the impending darkness soon fell over him as he subjected himself to his almost certain death.

* * *

A lone leather-clad figure was briskly walking along the sidewalk, aimlessly kicking a pebble as he went. Sure, it was a stupid thing to do, but what else was there? He went to kick the pebble again and instead, it went under his shoe. The ground was a bit icy so he went down on the ground face-first with the pebble a few inches away.

Now Yami was pissed. Pissed at the pebble, at the board of directors of his company and at his life. _Especially_ at his life. He brushed himself off, picked up the poor pebble and threw it to god knows where. Not long after, he tripped on another pebble.

Yami hated getting embarrassed so he looked around to see if anyone was there. Then he shouted, "Goddam fucking pebble!" and tossed it down the nearest sewer hole.

Once relieved of his anger, Yami growled in frustration. This was definitely the highlight of his day. It all started when the eighteen year old had to get up at around 2:30 in the morning to make it to a business meeting. The meeting was at 8:30. The only problem with that, was that it was in the city and he lives five hours away from the city. Hell, he lives five hours away from everything.

Now, when you make an eighteen year old wake up at 2:30 in the morning, what do you think will happen? Yami isn't a morning person at all, so the first thing he did when he got out of bed was walk right into the doorframe. Then he turned the water in the shower on too hot and nearly burned his back. He jumped out of the shower and hit his head on the medicine cabinet.

Yami fiddled with the small gauze square on his forehead and gently pulled the square off. Breakfast was a total disaster. He was in a rush to finish and wasn't watching where he was going. The coffee got knocked onto the plate of bacon, toast and eggs and the plate got knocked into him. He tried to clean himself the best he could, but in the end he had to change, deciding to skip the suit. I don't think I could imagine Yami in a suit…

Then it was a long, boring car ride into the city. He just barely made it to the meeting on time and it turned out to be nothing important. That was another ten hours he could have been sleeping. Yami sighed. Five more hours, depending on traffic and he was home to dinner and an early sleep.

'I swear, if anyone wakes me up tomorrow, I'll have their head and start a collection.' He thought bitterly. He didn't really want to do anything of the sort, but if it meant no disturbances…

It had started to snow about an hour ago. Yami wondered if everyone was all right back at the mansion. Then he remembered that he never had time to clean Summer's stall.

Summer was his favorite horse out of the many he had. He named her Summer because she was born in the summer, was a light golden color and loved to spend time in the sun. He would have someone else take care of her, if he wanted someone easily killed. Summer hated everyone but him and he was the only one that could get within ten feet of her. The other horses were okay with other people, but he liked taking care of them as well. He felt at peace when he was with his horses, and not many things gave him that feeling anymore.

That was Yami's day. He absolutely hated getting up early, especially when he didn't have school or it was _Christmas_. Yes, today was Christmas, of all days.

'Of all the goddam days for a meeting, they just _had_ to pick today! There are 364 other perfectly good days to get work done. But does the board listen to me? No. Do they listen to the person who holds their life at his fingertips? No. The fucking board said I had to fucking come for no fucking reason! I can't even remember the last time my Christmas dinner wasn't more than a sandwich. And I never get to spend any time with my friends anymore because I'm always too busy. Speaking of friends, Kaiba Corp isn't too far from here. I'll pay a visit to Seto and Mokuba to wish them a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I won't have another chance and I'll have to call my other friends later when I get the chance. I just hope they'll understand…' Yami finished the thought with a snort.

"Merry Christmas. Happy New Years. What a waste of time. What a bunch of shit." He muttered under his breath.

As he was sauntering along, it started to snow harder and the hailstones increased in size. They were now about an inch in diameter. Anyone not moving in this weather would be frozen solid sooner or later. Why did he make his driver, Rosa, park five long, San Francisco blocks away from the building?

'Maybe when I get to Seto's mansion he'll allow me to stay overnight. He knows better than anyone does what it's like to run your own company and all the hassles that come with it.' Yami made a mental note to ask.

Yami couldn't really see where he was going and was completely caught off guard when he nearly tripped over something soft and then stepped on some sort of box. One of the pieces in the box jabbed his foot in the side. It hurt a bit, but it hurt even more when he slipped on said piece and landed on his back in the snow.

He was lying on his back for a good fifteen minutes, panting, before he was actually able to get up again. 'That's the _second_ time _today_!' His mind screamed at him.

He picked up the piece and was about to throw it. At that moment, the piece caught a ray of the little sunlight that there was, revealing it to be solid gold.

'If there's anything I need, money definitely isn't it.' Yami thought, turning the piece in his hand. 'I need someone to relate to. Sure, Seto can relate to me company-wise, but he doesn't understand what I've been through. No one does. The only other people that even know the faintest about my past are Seto, Marik and Bakura. And I haven't really told them anything in detail. When I try to tell them, I choke on memories and end up making some lame excuse to get away.

'There's still Summer I can talk to; I know she won't tell a soul what I relayed to her. I feel connected to her, but she's just a horse. Even though it seems like she always understands what I'm saying, it's not the same as having a _person_ to talk to.

'I've tried keeping it all to myself but after a while it just becomes too overwhelming and I loose it. Oh well, something good has to come out of this day…' Yami trailed off, thinking some more.

The sun started peeking through the holes in the clouds and the snow let up a bit though it was still coming down hard. When the rays hit the ground, the other pieces, unbeknownst to Yami, reflected the light creating golden shimmers that seemed to dance as the sun went past. The glint caught Yami's eye, mixing with the iris to make an even deeper reddish hue.

He looked at the snow-covered cement only to find that there were more pieces strewn about the area. He pocketed the piece he already had and proceeded to collect the rest. Doing so, he noted that all the pieces had relatively the same size and shape, yet none were the same. All of the pieces looked like they would fit into any other one, but none fit together at all. Only three pieces held any sign of significance. One was shaped like a pyramid, probably the overall shape of the puzzle, the next was flat and had sort of jagged edges with a loop on top and the last one was also flat and had the Eye of Horus engraved on it. If it isn't the Eye of Horus, it is now.

As he was about to pick up the last piece, Yami's hand brushed against something soft, but cold. Out of curiosity, he touched the figure again and kept his hand there for a moment. It seemed frozen and dead at first, but when he was about to remove his hand, he noticed that it was breathing.

After a few moments, Yami registered what was going on. "Holy shit! This person is alive!" He only shouted it because he knew no one was around to hear him.

Yami was warm enough, but this person was as cold as ice. His skin was semi blue and if he was conscious, he wouldn't even be able to feel Yami touching his skin to try to warm him. He immediately took off his jacket and put it around the other one's shoulders. The build of the person was relatively small, so he guessed him to be a boy of about ten or so.

'Poor kid. I wonder what happened to him. I mean, why is he out here? On Christmas none the less? Shouldn't his family have been looking for him and found him by now? He must have been out here for at least a few hours, judging by how cold he is.' The thought shocked Yami, and one thing ran through his mind: Why?

Yami took the boy into his arms to keep both of them warm. It was only then that he noticed that he was a mess. His pants were covered in blood and his blonde bangs were splotched with blood and dirt. He had a few open cuts, many healing ones and probably about a hundred bruises all over his body. What had happened to him?

'Wait a minute, blonde bangs?' Yami lifted the boy's head up only to find that he looked remotely similar to Yami himself. 'That's interesting. It's not every day you find someone that looks similar to me. You know, I wonder what color his eyes are. I can't picture him with a common eye color. Mine have a blood red hue. Though everyone says that they're crimson. When I look, I see myself with irises a lot deeper than crimson. And besides, blood red fits me better.

'I can't picture this boy with my eye color though either.' Yami was brought out of his thoughts when he felt his shirt was wet. 'Apparently this kid is worse off than I thought. He's pouring blood in buckets. I can feel him getting weaker in my arms; he might die.' Yami looked somewhat fondly at his little look-alike and smiled. A rare, genuine smile.

He wanted to know more about this boy, find out what happened to him. He wanted to repay the assholes that did this to him, a complete stranger. Why, he had no idea. If he had gotten attacked by a gang and gotten hurt, Yami would finally have someone to relate to. Maybe that's why.

Whatever had happened, all Yami knew was that this boy needed help. 'But I have to wait for him to wake up. I'm sure he wouldn't want someone he doesn't know taking him to his or her home. I don't think his family would appreciate him waking up in my mansion either.'

So he waited. He waited for what seemed like hours before there was even a single movement of the other one. At first there was just a twitch like he was cold. Then, a few moments later he stirred and weakly opened his eyes. He surveyed his surroundings only to find he was sitting up on something on the sidewalk. But what exactly was he sitting on? And why was it so soft and warm?

He started frantically darting his eyes back and forth. Then he realized whatever was holding him was behind him. He swiftly spun around to meet with fiery eyes and an equally burning pain in his side. He clutched it and hissed, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Hey kid, are you all right? You don't look so good." Yami stated.

The other boy tore his gaze away from his wounded side, shocked. No one had ever asked that before. 'He cares about me? But why?'

"Why would you care?" He snapped at Yami. He cast his eyes downward, fiddling with his fingers as he looked anywhere but at the stranger. He felt somewhat guilty for what he said. Or at least in the way he said it.

Yami understood. If he really was just in a fight and was left out here, then why should the boy trust anyone? "Let's just say that I'm a nice guy. And I won't hurt you. I promise." He finished with a nod as a confirmation.

"Who are you?" There was a bit more happiness evident in his voice and some fear died down, though it was still present.

"My name is Yami. What's yours, little one?"

For the first time, the boy looked up into Yami's eyes and said, "My name is Yugi."

'Violet! So that's it. But something's wrong. They look so dull and lifeless. Not only that, but he seems to be afraid, confused and in immense pain.' Now Yami spoke. "Well Yugi, let me ask again. Are you all right?"

'Should I tell him about my dad? What if he hates me? I can't really say we're friends, but I still don't want Yami to hate me. Wait, _are_ we friends?' "Yea, I'm okay. My side just hurts a bit. It's nothing to worry about."

Yugi could tell Yami wasn't buying it. "Tell me, why are you lying? Friends shouldn't lie to each other. None of my other friends do."

"You think we're friends? Why would you want someone like me to be your friend?" Yugi hung his head thinking that Yami never meant what he said.

"Yes, and why not? You never answered my question, Yugi." He went to lift Yugi's head but Yugi pulled away. Then he got up and faced Yami with cold, darkened eyes. Yami was taken aback. How could someone so young hold so much negative emotion?

"If you had any idea what my life has been like, you wouldn't want anything to do with me!" Yami tried to refute, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise. "Everyone knows everything about me and they all hate me for it! The kids in school make fun of me and they beat me up even more than I am at home; even the teachers view me as lesser than the other kids!" Yugi hadn't realized what he said until after he said it. He fell to his knees knowing that Yami would walk away disgusted and he'd lose his only friend. All because of what he blurted out on accident.

He took the jacket off and threw it at where he supposed Yami to be. Yami was stunned. Had what Yugi said been true? 'No wonder his family never came looking for him! I am such an idiot. I should have been able to put two and two together long before this. Great, now Yugi's crying because he thinks I'll become an enemy as well. I'll have to prove him wrong.' Yami walked over to where Yugi was kneeling.

He replaced the jacket on him and said, "I promise I won't leave you. Please tell me if what you said before is true or not."

Yugi sniffed. He looked up at Yami with watery eyes and tear stained cheeks. "I-it's true, all of it. My dad beats me a-and he laughs at me and calls me worthless." Yugi tried to wipe the tears away but they wouldn't stop falling.

Yami brought the crying boy into his arms. For some reason it felt right. The two fit together like the golden pieces in Yami's pockets. "How long has this been going on?" He asked.

Yugi lifted his head up to respond. "Ev-ever since I was f-four years old. I-it's been twelve years to date."

'He's sixteen?' Yami brought Yugi's head to his chest and started stroking his hair. "It's all right now. Let it all out and cry. It will make you feel better." Yami was almost ready to cry himself. He felt terrible for what happened to his younger friend.

They stayed together for a while as Yugi cried his little heart out. When he finished he was still shaking and a tear would escape his eyes every now and then. "Maybe you should leave because I don't want you to get hurt when my dad comes back to get me. He won't be alone this time and you're only another obstacle to keep him from getting to me."

Yami shook his head. He set Yugi on the ground beside him and stood up. "I'd be as heartless as your father if I left a friend behind." He paused to extend a hand out to Yugi. "And if you want, I can let you stay with me. I mean, only if you really want to, that is." Yami couldn't figure out why, but something was pulling him towards Yugi. It felt like his heart was dragging Yami down a path of concern, sorrow and something else. 'But what else? What's going on?'

After listening to Yami's words, Yugi felt happier. Happier than he had ever felt in his life. He took his right hand and latched it onto Yami's left. "Umm, do you think you could pull me up? See, my arm is kinda broken and-" he stopped speaking when he saw Yami walk behind him. "Yami what are you-"

Yami wrapped two strong arms around Yugi's tiny waist and pulled him up. Yugi suddenly looked tired and it didn't seem as if he could walk very far without collapsing. Yami picked him up again so he could carry him bridal style.

"You can put me down, you know. I can walk to wherever we're going. I could probably walk to your house too, Yami." Yugi stifled a yawn. He was tired, but he didn't want to admit it. The steady rhythm of Yami's walk and his chest rising and falling weren't helping any. Neither was the fact that he had lost a lot of blood and was probably still bleeding. He rested his head on Yam's chest and started to nod off. His eyes were drooping slightly and a contented look spread across his features.

"Sleep if need be, little one. I'll wake you when we get there." Yugi closed his eyes in response. "Or if something happens." Yami whispered to himself.

A few minutes later, as if on cue, a bullet whizzed by and created a miniature crater a couple of feet in front of them on the sidewalk. Even more came speeding past, all aimed terribly off. Whoever was behind him didn't want to hit him, they only wanted him to get distracted. Two came at him from the left and right sides. While dodging the one on the right, (because that was where Yugi's head was) the one on the left grazed his upper arm.

Yami started to run, hissing as another one hit him full on just below the graze mark. It was bleeding badly and he was losing the feeling in his arm. It wouldn't be much longer before he would have to stop and wake up Yugi. The firing was becoming more frequent and soon the sidewalk was too rocky to move on.

Yugi awakened slowly from the noises and Yami's ragged breathing. "What's going on? What's that noise?" He asked sleepily. Only a muffled "Oh thank God." Was heard.

Yami stopped short. The only way out of this situation was to bolt across the street and hopefully make it to the other side in one piece. In a blur of mainly black he moved to the side street with ease. Once he was almost at the end he dropped to his knees, panting heavily. Yugi climbed out from his protective embrace and one-handedly gave Yami a hug around his neck.

"Are you all right?" He got a slow nod. "Are you sure?" He unwound his hand from Yami's neck and shakily stood. He took one look at Yami's arm and gasped. "You're hurt! You've been shot!" He tore off the bottom of one of his pants legs and wrapped it around the wound.

Yami held his breath and shut his eyes tight. There was pain evident on his face before he turned away to look behind him. Five shadowed figures were rounding the corner. They were pissed, Yami could tell that much. Three stayed at the corner and two came jogging down the street.

'Why are these guys following us?' He thought. He started to panic. What were they going to do? 'We have to hide somewhere.'

"I'm all done now. That looks good. It should slow the bleeding until-" Yami clamped a hand over his mouth.

He tried to ignore the muffled cries and backed them into the space between the last house and the end of the block. Before he unclamped his hand he whispered, "You have to be very, very quiet. Until I figure out what's going on here, stay out of sight and don't make a sound. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, but I can't help it if you don't keep quiet. Understand?"

Yugi nodded, relieved to have the hand taken away. There were five men with guns chasing them. He saw them when he was bandaging Yami's arm, but pretended not to notice. The one in the front was his dad. There was no doubt about it. He must've come home and seen that he wasn't there. 'He's probably been following me the whole way unnoticed.' Yugi paled. 'That means he knows that I told Yami that he hits me! I have to say something.'

Yugi tugged on his good arm and Yami looked at him. "What's the matter?" He whispered.

"I know who those guys are. The one in front is my dad and the rest of them are his friends. He went out to get them so he could get me back for not cooperating with him this morning. He saw I was gone and must've come looking for me. And now he's after you too because you know what he does to me." He whispered back. "It's all my fault!" He whispered a little louder that time. He started to cry. Yugi looked at Yami then buried his face in his shirt to stifle the sobs.

Yami held him closer and put his head on top of Yugi's. He rubbed small circles on his back in a soothing manner and murmured words that had no meaning. The words didn't have to mean anything, as long as they were there. To Yugi that meant Yami was there and that calmed him down more than anything did.

When Yugi stopped he looked up at Yami and smiled. "I think I'll be all right now." He whispered. He pushed himself off of his friend and proceeded to the mouth of the alley.

He looked back at Yami and bit his lip. He was going to surrender himself in return for Yami's safety. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his new found friend.

Yugi took off Yami's jacket and handed it back to him. "If anything happens to me then I know you would want your jacket. So here, take it. I'm going to go out there and face him. You stay here, out of danger."

"If anything ever happened to you I wouldn't care about the goddam jacket. I'll do as you say, but promise you'll call if you need me for anything. Promise me that one thing, please?"

"I promise, Yami. Oh, and put the jacket on. If they see the bandage, they'll gain a little bit more confidence knowing that they actually hit someone with the little skills they have."

Yami chuckled a bit at the comment. "Tell me where you live, in case anything _does_ happen. This way I have an idea of where to find you if we get separated."

"I think it's two or three blocks from here. Umm, the name of the street is Black Forest Avenue. It's a narrow street with houses on one side. My house has no number and it should be the second or third house in from the corner."

"What does your house look like? If I knew that I wouldn't need a house number or anything like that to find it."

"All the houses pretty much look the same on the street. I guess some things you should know is that the front lawn is bloody and the big double window in the front of it is broken with a hole about my size on it. The window pane is bent outward and there's no fence. Something you have to be careful of is that there's a Great Dane in the front yard that hates everyone but me. If you get too close she _will_ bite you."

"Wait a minute, he didn't throw you out the window, did he? Does your house have two stories? Where does the bloody lawn fit in with all this? What happened? And what do I do about the dog?"

"First of all, I broke the window so I could get out. Hence, the bloody lawn. And second of all, try to stay away from her. If she sees you and thinks you're a threat, she'll chase you."

"What would I do if she starts chasing me?"

"Call her name, Snapper. If that doesn't work, run."

"Oh. Well, please be careful when you're out there. You may think you know him, but he probably has some new kind of trick up his sleeve." Yami stood and put the jacket on, hugging Yugi as a way to say _I'm here for you._

Yugi walked out of the alleyway without a look back. If he saw how saddened and pained Yami's face was, he wouldn't be able to go out and do what he knew he had to do.

As soon as he stepped into the light he was grabbed and roughly pulled to the side. "Glad to see you finally came around and decided to go with us." A familiar voice said.

"The only thing I've decided on doing is being rid of you once and for all. I can't stand this anymore, so why don't you just leave me alone!" This was going against his original plan, but then again so had the whole day.

"The only reason I came out here was to get you, you piece of shit, and I ain't going home 'till that's done." He lifted up his son's chin and glared at him. "You've been an asshole to me today and that can't go unpunished."

Yugi spit in his face. That wasn't such a good idea, and certainly not the best one he'd made today. His dad threw him into one of the brick houses. He didn't come off unscathed, but he'd been in worse scenarios than this.

Yugi quickly scrambled to his feet. He saw that his dad's back was facing him and got a hopefully brilliant idea. 'What have I got to lose?' With that thought running through his head, Yugi sprinted towards his dad and jumped on his back, covering both his eyes with his right arm.

His dad staggered a few inches back, caught totally off guard. The last he remembered, he had thrown Yugi against one of the houses and turned his back to him. He hadn't turned since then, only moved. He smirked and backed up into the house as fast as he could.

The wind was knocked out of Yugi and he slid off of his dad's shoulders. He fell to the ground, silent. He didn't move or make a sound. Based on his actions, there was no proof that he was even still alive. Not until one shallow breath escaped his pained body.

His dad quickly whirled around and pushed Yugi forward into the ground. Yugi was more awake now and he was panting heavily. He had little idea of what was going on and even less of an idea of why there was a sharp pain in the small of his back. He strained to lift his head and peered over his shoulder. He saw his dad sitting on him, making his legs go numb so he couldn't move.

'What am I going to do?' He wondered weakly. 'Wait, I know!' Yugi took as deep a breath as he could with the constricting concrete under him and shouted, "YA-" He was suddenly cut off when his dad's rolled up red and black bandana was shoved into his mouth and tied securely behind his head.

His dad jerked his head back and let it fall onto the ground again. He repeated this, each time making the jerk more violent. When he finally stopped, Yugi made choking sounds, trying to get some air before he passed out. His dad shoved his head back onto the cement and held it there.

Yugi tried to struggle. He tried to get away. Unfortunately, the harder he tried to break free, the harder he was pushed into the cement and the more weight was put onto the small of his back.

His dad's friends were laughing at him, calling him worthless. They were saying that the only thing he was good for was something to beat the shit out of and toss away. No one cares about someone like him. No one ever did and no one ever will.

Hot tears slowly made their way down his cheeks. Yugi tried to convince himself that it wasn't true and they were lying. He knew he had to keep fighting, because the moment he gave up, he belonged to them. He also knew that he was failing miserably. Their words were getting to him and there wouldn't be much time before his spirit was broken. Soon he would become something only to be used and then thrown away.

The tears streamed down faster and they wouldn't cease falling. They stained the ground not so far below his crushed body and made a small puddle. He couldn't even get his hand out from underneath him to wipe them away. The thing he was most worried about now though was the fact that Yami hadn't come yet, even though he called. Or almost did, anyway.

'Where is he? D-did he leave? What if what they're saying is true? Could Yami really think I'm worthless? Does he hate me because I'm weak and give up too easily? Oh, Yami, where are you!' Yugi cried out in his mind.

Yugi looked somewhat fondly at the entrance to the alleyway where Yami hopefully was waiting for him to call. The side of his head suddenly connected with the cement again.

"Don't even think of trying to get away. There's no where to go. And besides, what my friends over there said is completely wrong. You aren't totally useless. You're gonna be a great in bed, you'll see!" Before he had time to think about what his dad had just said, Yugi was hit on the back of the head and he blacked out.

His dad finally got off Yugi and slung him over one of his shoulders. "Well boys, let's go back to my place and finish what I started. It'll be fun and you'll all get to take a crack at 'im." They turned away and were about to leave when a voice that sounded _way_ beyond pissed rang in their ears. They were all scared stiff as they dared to turn around. Heh. A bunch of forty-something year old guys being scared of an eighteen-year-old.

Yami was standing there with his fists clenched and a menacing glare set on his face. He had heard the whole conversation and wasn't about to let _anything_ happen to Yugi. "I don't think so. You five assholes will have to get past me if you're going anywhere with Yugi." Yami snapped. And he thought his day was bad before. Well that was nothing compared to this. His newest friend was about to get severely hurt and Yami wasn't going to let that happen without a fight. This was definitely the worst day ever, without a doubt.

"And you." He turned to Yugi's dad. His eyes darkened deeper than the reddest of blood hues, almost black. Yami slowly started moving closer, making sure they kept eye contact. He smirked. Before they had time to think, he was right up in their faces, too close for them to get away. "You bastard, how dare you call yourself a father! You don't deserve to live after what you've done to him!" Yami grabbed him roughly by the shirt collar and pulled him in close. "I'll make sure that you die before you get a chance to go near him again." He hissed dangerously.

"I think you're too late for that." Yugi's dad retorted.

"What do you mean by I'm too late?" Yami had never seen Yugi slung over his dad's shoulder and didn't know he was there. He was focusing on the face of the man he held by the collar and didn't bother to look elsewhere.

"What I mean is, I got the kid and you're about to be killed. You two! Get on it and meet the rest of us back home." He grabbed Yami's hand and flung him off into the two of the five guys that were waiting for him.

"Kendo, what do ya want us to do to this guy?" One of them asked. The other one was in the alleyway looking for something. A clang was heard and a couple of sparks flew out from the mouth of the space.

"I don't care what the fuck you do to him! Just make it so that he can't come after us and try to save the kid. I've got big plans for the pile of shit on my shoulder, here." He motioned for the other two to follow and they casually walked off around the corner and back the way they came.

"Well, the boss said we can do anything to you we like. So what's it gonna be?" The man paused to listen to another clang and see some more sparks. "Will you hurry it up in there, dammit? I want to get this over with as soon as possible so I can get a share of the fun over at Kendo's place. I don't want to go chasing him all over San Francisco, either. And we can't leave him out here."

"All right, all right, jeez! I'll be out in a sec. An' besides, as long as you're holding him, he can't get away." Yami heard this and blinked a few times out of confusion. He was, in fact being held and he hadn't even realized it.

'This is going to be tougher than I thought. A lot tougher.' Yami was snapped back to reality when he was forcefully shoved out of the man's grasp and fell to the ground.

He would have been hit harder if not for the fact that the lead pipe made a loud whizzing noise when it slashed through the air. He moved to the left an inch or so and the sharpened end of the pipe sunk into his shoulder.

Yami watched as the blood dripped out of the newly formed abrasion. He growled, then rolled to the side as a chain descended down upon him. The chain narrowly missed Yami's head and instead took a chunk out of the asphalt. He sprang up onto his feet, ready to fight.

Yami was always quicker and more agile when on his feet. He could move around easier and use his arms as a defensive mechanism. If he was on the ground for too long dodging chains and pipes, he would lose that edge and not be able to gain it back fast enough to win against the two guys that got him into this in the first place.

The chain came at him again. Yami held up his arm and let the metal links wind around it. What he never noticed was that there was a hook on the end of the chain. The hook dug into his skin through his jacket and ran across it, slicing the top of his forearm.

He glanced at the wound for a brief second. It didn't hurt that much, and besides, he had a more important thing to worry about. 'Yugi… this is for you!' Yami took the chain in both hands and pulled. He yanked it right out of the other man's hands and flung it back at him with twice the force, hitting him square on the head.

The other fell to the ground unconscious in front of Yami's feet. Yami snorted. That's what they got for messing with him and the other one was next. He felt another presence behind him and whirled, just in time to catch the blow. The pipe hit him again and again all over his body unmercifully until he dropped to the ground, blood leaking all over the small side street.

The man stared at Yami for a moment before he ran to his fallen companion and shook him awake. "I did it. It took six or seven times, but I did it. If he isn't dead now then he'll go soon. There ain't no way he's gonna get up again after what I did to him."

"Well good. That should make the boss happy. Now we better get out of here before someone sees us. We'd get in some deep fuckin' trouble with the cops for this."

"No need to worry. There's only one house on this street and they're away. See? No cars are in the driveway."

The formerly unconscious man cautiously stepped over to Yami as if he would spring up any second. He heard an exasperated sigh in the background. "I'm going to get the chain offa him. You should get the pipe too so we can show them as proof that we did our job." He unwound the chain down to the hook. It was still embedded deep in Yami's flesh. He made a sickened face as he pulled it out making the blood come out faster.

"Come on already, let's go! Let's get back to the rest of the guys and pick up where we left off." The one with the pipe was already at the corner, walking away from the scene and not bothering to wait for the other guy to follow.

They walked around the corner and down the road a ways. It was a good while before they came upon Kendo and the other two. They were laughing and joking about how much fun this was going to be.

Yugi was still unconscious and remained like that almost the whole way back to the house. The sky darkened and thunder rolled over the land. Lightning could be seen in the distance by anyone who was willing to see it. Two prone figures, one on a deserted side street, the other slung over his abusive father's shoulder, were the only ones oblivious to this. The lightning came closer and grew brighter while the thunder rumbled increasingly closer to the flashes.

Then the rain came. This was no ordinary rain. This was a sheet of freezing water pelting the bodies of anyone who dare come outside and mock Mother Nature. There were no indications of where one raindrop ended and the next began.

Then there was the cold. The cold… the cold was so inviting to Yugi. So inviting that he slowly opened his eyes half way. He was fully awake but was aware that he was still in danger. If his dad and his friends thought he was still out, they would think nothing of him. That was what he was aiming for. Until Yami came, he would try to avoid anything that might have been planned for him.

When his street was finally in view, Yugi was dropped to the ground. He had fallen asleep; something he hadn't been able to do in ages. He groggily opened his eyes and sat up. He was then kicked in the side.

His dad literally ripped the bandana from around his mouth. Then he threw it on the street in front "Get up. You're walking the rest of the way." Kendo spat. "I don't want to be burdened with you any longer."

Yugi just snorted and turned away, refusing to get up. "I'm content where I am, right here, on the ground." He motioned to the spot he was sitting on to emphasize his point.

"I'm getting really pissed off at you. So get your fucking skinny ass over here before I give you your punishment a whole hell of a lot earlier than expected!"

Yugi backed away a bit, but other than that showed no emotion. He saw the glare of five sadistic lunatics upon him and decided to listen or else he would be dead sooner than he thought. He shakily stood and began to walk towards the house when he was grabbed from behind. Yugi was jerked to the ground and when he opened his eyes again he saw all five of them standing around him in a circle. There was no way out.

The rain came down even harder washing his cuts and clothes almost clean. His hair got plastered to his face. It kept getting in his eyes and irritating the various slash marks on his face.

He got up again only to be pushed back into the ground face first. He gagged as some of the muddy water that had pooled on the street entered his mouth. 'I have definitely gotten myself into deep shit.' He thought bitterly.

Even though the house was less than a block away it seemed like hours before the circle actually turned onto the street. Through the arms of one of his dad's friends Yugi saw Ms. McAlister Old gym teacher… in her bright lime green raincoat and, as always, her three-foot long hair in a ponytail. She was getting the afternoon mail as she always does.

She had no children of her own and often came next door to see Yugi. He told her everything and talked to her like a child would to his mother. She was the mother he wishes he still had. Whenever his dad would leave, he would run over to her house for comfort.

Sometimes she would bandage him up, even though he told her not too. If his dad ever found out that she cared he would threaten to kill her. Yugi envisioned the scene that might have occurred.

'My dad threatens her and ends up killing her anyway. Then he will beat me harder then he ever has. That'll be the second person that cared about me in the smallest degree dead. Speaking of caring, I wonder if Yami's okay. He hasn't been following and I have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe something did happen to him…'

Yugi peered in the direction of Ms. McCalister just in time to see tears well up in her pale green eyes. She hastily grabbed the mail and dashed back into her quaint little house, her autumn gold hair streaming behind. The burgundy front door slammed shut. For a moment Yugi thought she had abandoned him when he probably needed her most. Then he saw a pair of pale green eyes peek through a sliver in the matching burgundy and gold weave curtains.

Her house is like a cape cod. You know the ones you see when you go to Pennsylvania or up state. Her house is the only one on the block that doesn't look run-down and like it's about to crumble. A glimmer of hope appeared on his face. 'Maybe I'll make it through this after all.' Yugi dreamed, looking back the way he had come for a split second.

Yugi was shaken from his thoughts when he was thrown through the window he broke and landed on the wall with a thud. Something was about to happen; something bad. The five men advanced on him. Two of them held up bloody weapons.

Yugi's gaze hardened. "There's no way you'll ever get away with this. Yami promised he'd never let anything happen to me. He'll be here before you can lay a finger on me!"

"Oh, you really think so, don't you? You think he'd still want to come and try to save you after what we did to him?"

"Yami is my friend! He promised he'd always be there for me! He promised…"

"That friend of yours won't be here today, he won't be here tomorrow either. He's never coming back after what happened on the side street. Where do you think the blood came from?"

A look of pure horror came over Yugi's face. "Th-that's his. That's Ya-ami's blood?" He got two nods in response. "What did you do to him! What have you done!"

"Nothing special. We just stopped him from getting to you, that's all. It was hard, but we did it. We killed him. Your friend is dead."

CLIFFIE!

* * *

Yugi: You are very evil.

Soulless: Why thank you.

Yugi: Is Yami going to be okay?

Soulless: …

Yami: And what's going to happen to Yugi?

Soulless: …

Yami/sigh/ Anyway, didn't you have something to tell everyone?

Soulless: Huh? Oh, right. I wanted to thank the people who reviewed for the first chapter. Namely: Kat1132, Otaro Ruiyen and kkwyDragonflame. And I also wanted to say that I'm sorry the little stars around the actions in my other notes didn't show up; I'll try to fix it so it shows up from now on. Maybe I'll do little dashes or the vertical lines or something. Yeah. That'll work. And then I can fill little wicker baskets with that smelly stuff that girls like and…

Yugi/sweatdrop/ He's rambling again…

Yami: I told you last chapter, Yugi, he needs to be gagged. And we never should have taken the straight jacket off…

Soulless: So the milk chocolate bunnies and I can take over the world, along with Marik and Bakura if they want, and then everybody will be forced to eat chocolate until they EXPLODE! Or die if hives…

Yugi: Is he high, or something? I mean he's worse than you are when you're drunk!

Yami: I don't get drunk, alcohol just doesn't sit well with me.

Soulless: But of course the pink peeps will be burned like they deserve, but the yellow and blue and white ones can stay in my pantry. And we can all eat little peanut butter fudge balls that I made from the chocolate bunnies. Then we can live happily ever after and…

Yugi: But the pink ones are my favorite!

Yami: Your favorite color is pink?

Yugi: No! My favorite color is dark blue! It's just that the pink ones are easiest to torment…

Soulless: YES! Burn all the pink peeps!

Yugi: No, dammit! You can't burn them without letting me do it too!

Yami/sweatdrop/ Everybody is going crazy… /thinking/ And I still can't get this collar off…

* * *

So, yea. That's chapter two. And I realize that I never put a disclaimer at the beginning of the chapter so here it is now:

**Disclaimer:** I obviously don't own anything, including: Yu-Gi-Oh! and/or any characters from said show, peeps, or the little fudge ball things that my friend told me about that they sell in Lowes Foods also don't own. And who the hell names a grocery store Lowes? Glad I don't live in the south no offense to the people who do. And I also don't own the idea of burning the pink peeps. My friend thought of that.

Okay, that's all I can think of for right now. I'm tired for no apparent reason and I just feel really shitty. Well, there's one thing I can think of: I'm going on vacation this Thursday through next Tuesday, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get chapter three out before then. Probably not. So you're gonna hafta wait for it a little longer than usual.

Anyway, that's it for now. So until next chapter, I'm out. _7-18-05_


	3. Coming to the rescue

Chapter 3: Coming to the Rescue

**Disclaimer**: These things are stupid. Of course nobody on this site owns anything they're writing about, and I don't see why I'd be an exception. So from now on, I won't put a disclaimer in here, but if you _really_ like seeing them, then you have this chapter to fall back on.

Oh, yea. **WARNING: MAJOR CHILD ABUSE, MOLESTATION, BLOOD AND GORE TO FOLLOW. **I'll put up a warning at the beginning and end of each of the sections of gore and abuse for anyone who does not want to read.And also because I think I have to.

* * *

Rosa crept around, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of Yami. He had been gone an awfully long time… She was getting closer to the point where Yami was last seen.

She stepped on something and heard a crack along with a clang of metal. She jumped back out of surprise and gave a small 'eep' noise. With caution in every step she moved forward. Rosa was bewildered. The sidewalk was chopped up into pieces like a carrot gone through a slicer three times. There were also bullet casings strewn all over the street and sidewalk.

Her eyes trailed over the scene. The presumed bullet holes led across the street onto another smaller one with one house on it. Curiosity got the best of her and she crossed to the other side.

'What could possibly be going on?' She thought. 'Does this have anything to do with Master Yami being away for almost an hour longer than he should have been?'

When she walked onto the street, the sight that greeted her killed her from inside out and knotted her stomach. Yami was lying face down at the end, soaked to the bone. A pool of watered down blood that surrounded him was slowly making its way to the sewers. She tried not to vomit as she ran over to the person that she knew so well lying motionless at the end of the narrow side street.

She sunk to her knees and cried into her hands. After a while, she felt a light flicking sensation on her knee. She gasped when she found out that it was Yami's hand. He used every bit of the strength he had left to signal he was alive.

Rosa happily took his hand in her own. "Oh, thank every god in existence that I found you when I did, Master Yami." She gently pulled him up and naturally he collapsed. She caught him and carried him back to the car.

She laid him in the back seat of the car and inspected his wounds. He had one bullet shot and a graze in his left arm. There were also long massive slits, about four inches long each, all over his chest, neck and face. But the worst thing had to be a capacious gash, bleeding heavily, on his wrist. It looked like one central incision with smaller ones branching off.

Rosa reached into the backseat glove compartment to get the first aid kit. Tears sprang into her eyes as she began to wrap the nearly severed wrist in wet bandages. They would harden as they dried so that Yami couldn't move his wrist and there would be less pain.

Yami rolled his head to the side and a low moaning sound came from the bottom of his throat. "That r-real-ly hu-hurts…" he whispered weakly. His eyes slowly slid half way open and his gaze turned on Rosa. "W-w-we. Ha-have. To f-find." He was breathing heavily and the words were so hard to get out.

"No, you don't need to find anything. All you need to do is rest. I have to get you home before you get sick and die or something." She tried to hold him back when he reached for the door handle, but even in his weakened state he was still a little strong. "Please, please, Master Yami, stop! You're going to hurt yourself even further!" Yami wouldn't listen. He had to find Yugi. He had to save him. He had to get him away from his father no matter what. Even if that meant he got hurt. Or worse.

He was finally able to break free of Rosa's grasp, but by then his energy was spent. There was no way he would have enough strength to get up and go save his friend any time soon. And by then, Yugi could be dead. Yami curled up against the window.

His eyes clouded over with tears as he hung his head and hugged his arms over the top of it. He started sniffling in the privacy of his arms. Yami slowly lifted his head and leaned it against the window. He let out one heart-wrenching sob, and soon after he was in hysterics. The tears cascaded down his cheeks and dropped onto the seat at the top of is jawline.

"I'm sorry Yugi, so sorry. I failed to protect you and I broke my promise. I'm not worthy enough to be your friend anymore!" It was a pitiful cry for forgiveness that he didn't need to ask of Yugi, but he did anyway. He cried until his eyes were dry and puffy, and his throat was raw. He continued until he could no more and still went on long after that.

He laid his head on the back of the seat and steadied himself for a few minutes. Then he turned to Rosa again with red, puffy, tired eyes and said, "We have to find Yugi. He's my friend and I won't leave him behind. Just give me a few minutes to rest and then we _have_ to go." He suddenly turned more serious, "I almost completely broke my promise to him last time and I want to make sure it never happens again."

A small smile played upon his lips, thinking about Yugi. "This is a rhetorical question. Have you ever had a friend that you felt so close to that you would do anything for them, regardless of what happened to you? Well, that's exactly how I feel about Yugi." He paused to let the information sink in to Rosa.

"How long have you known Yugi? I've never heard of him before, and if he's that important to you, I'm sure I would have seen him in the mansion some time or another."

"Actually, I just met him today, coming back to the car from the business meeting." He stifled a yawn. "The two of us have something in common that none of my other friends do. He doesn't know it, but my past and his present are relatively…" Yami trailed off and fell asleep, Rosa never knowing what he was going to say.

Although, she had a pretty good hunch at what he was getting at. She could never imagine the poor boy, (Yugi was it?) ever going through something so horrible. She took out a blanket from the mesh netting on the back of the front seat and tucked her master in. His face looked sad and she could only hope for the best and wished everything would be all right.

* * *

"It was hard, but we did it. We killed him. Your friend is dead." They sneered at him and held up their weapons again. This was going to be so much fun. Before anyone else could move an inch, Kendo stepped in front, blocking the others for the time being.

"He's my kid, so I say I get to take a crack at him first." No one complained, at least no one showed they did. They stepped back and Kendo went up to Yugi.

Yugi was hugging his knees to his chest and shaking. Anyone that went close enough would know that he was crying and muttering "You killed him, you killed him." Over and over again.

All of a sudden he leapt up in his father's face. His eyes were narrowed and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. He was taking long slow breaths to steady himself. Yugi wasn't just mad, he was _fucking_ mad. He jumped on his dad's back, just like he did before.

This time he made sure to stay on long enough to say what he had to say. "You fucking bastard! What the fuck did Yami do to deserve this? If you thought that getting him out of the way would make things better for you, you're damn wrong! All you did was get me all the more fucking pissed off! And now you and your flunkies are going to pay for what you've done!" Yugi screamed that at the top of his lungs. He didn't care if the whole neighborhood heard. At least they would know he was finally taking a stand.

Yugi covered his dad's eyes with his good arm and threw his weight around to try and knock his dad off balance. Kendo tried slamming backwards into the wall again. 'If he thinks I'm falling for that again…' Yugi bit his father's arm hard enough to draw blood. He whirled around so Yugi wasn't facing the wall anymore.

Kendo smirked, not known to Yugi, and gripped both of his arms forcefully. He threw him off over his head. Yugi hit the floor on his stomach with a thud, followed by a loud crack that seemed to echo throughout the walls. He painfully picked himself up, holding the left side of his ribcage. Blood slowly leaked out of the corner of his mouth. He was looking down and didn't notice the circle forming around him. He spit the blood on the carpet and looked up. He was surrounded. He was dead. Not literally!

From outside, Ms. McAlister saw everything. She hid herself around the corner of the house. She was completely horrified, to say the least. "I have to get help for Yugi." She whispered. "He said something about a dead friend. Maybe he's not dead after all. Maybe I can find him and get him to help." She crept away from her hiding spot and unclipped the chain from Snapper's collar.

She attached a real leash to her collar and started to walk away. "Go follow Yugi's scent. Wherever it leads us, we shall go. I just hope it leads us to help." Snapper made a soft yelp sound and they were on their way.

She was constantly sniffing the ground. She made a turn at the same corner Yugi did, and trotted straight until the scent disappeared completely. She whined and lay down in the spot. Ms. McAlister examined the spot. There were bullet holes and chipped cement everywhere. About twentyfeet down the bullet holes crossed the street onto another one with only one house on it. She practically dragged the dog across the main road to the other side.

Near the end, Snapper finally picked up Yugi's scent again. She barked happily but then growled at the ground. There was another scent mixed in with her master's. It was spicy, yet sweet; friendly, yet dangerous; inviting yet sinister. The scent was so weird that it made her sneeze. She was so confused; she didn't know what to do. Instead of following Yugi's scent back to the house, she picked the new one up and turned the opposite way. There was also a visible trail of small blood specks on the ground that Ms. McAlister was able to follow. The trail went on like that for a few miles at least.

There was finally a sleek black sports car parked on the side of the road. If I said it was a limo before, it's a sports car now. Snapper sped up and started barking at the car. When she got to the car, there was someone sleeping peacefully against the window wrapped in a blanket. She lightly rapped on the window and the person jarred awake.

He looked at her with tired eyes. She gasped. 'Is this who Yugi was talking about?' She questioned in her mind. The young man rolled his eyes. "What?" He snapped.

"You look like someone I know, that's all. Listen, sir--" She was interrupted when Snapper started jumping up and down and barking excitedly. "This is the scent! This is the scent!" It seemed like she was saying.

"Snapper, stop that! Be quiet!" Ms. McAlister scolded.

When she said that, something inside the man's head clicked. "What are you doing with Yugi's dog?"

"You know Yugi?" A smile lit up on her face. "Then you can help!" She realized she never answered his question. "Oh, yeah. I'm Yugi's next door neighbor. I heard what Yugi said to his dad about a friend, so I took Snapper to look for him, and I guess that's you."

"My name is Yami. I was going to look for Yugi, but I guess I fell asleep. My driver wouldn't leave this spot until I woke up, and I'm not sure if I ever would have. I made a promise to him and I'm not about to break it." His eyes softened thinking about his troubled friend. He sighed. "Go around the other side and get in. Right now, I feel well enough to get going. By the way, what's your name?"

"Laura. Laura McAlister. And thank you for helping." She tugged on Snapper's leash and got into the car. Snapper immediately jumped on Yami's lap and started sniffing. She started at his shirt and made her way up to his face. She pulled back and gave a bark. Then she licked Yami's face repetitively, making him smile. Well, it really wasn't a smile. He was never happy anymore. When she finally settled in his lap he closed his eyes in content.

Laura just sat there, gaping with wide eyes. "It took her almost two weeks before she came to realize I wasn't trying to hurt Yugi. And here she is, now _sleeping_ on your lap, less than-" She paused to look at her watch, "Five minutes later."

"That _is_ weird. But I don't have a problem with it. I like dogs." Getting back on the subject, he said, "So, where to? I'd like to get going before the turn of the century and save my friend."

"I know where to go. Black Forest is just a U-turn away. You just think of how you're going to save Yugi." Laura tapped on the glass dividing the front and the back. "Could you make a U-turn and continue straight until I tell you to stop?"

Rosa raised an eyebrow. "Okay," She said skeptically. She did as she was told and they were off. The same thought was running through both Yami and Laura's minds. 'Don't worry, Yugi. We're on our way.'

* * *

**IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE MAJOR ABUSE AND GORE THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PART TO SKIP.**

In the next instant, Yugi found himself pinned against the wall. One of the men he didn't recognize was looking at him with lust filled eyes. One hand was placed firmly over his chest so he wouldn't get away while the other one was stroking his cheek. He leaned in towards Yugi's face by his ear and whispered, "It's too bad we have to kill you, because you're such a pretty boy." he started licking around Yugi's ear and down to his neck.

He tried to pull away, but the man had a firm hold on his chest. He felt a hand that belonged to someone different grope at the non-existent sleeve of his shirt. The hand was removed and a few seconds later he felt a rush of cold air over the upper part of his body.

Yugi looked down and saw he was no loner wearing a shirt. The man pulled away, grinning. It was all just a distraction so they could get better access at his back. His dad came up to him with two knives in his hands. He jerked Yugi up by the throat and spun him so he was facing the wall. He shoved his son into the wall and forcefully pushed him back on the floor. Then he took his right arm and put the hand level with his head.

Yugi let out one long, horrific scream as the knife was thrust through his hand and into the wall. The scream intensified as the other knife went through the other hand. The blood spurted out and stained the wall and carpet. Yugi wiped his never-ending rives of tears on the wall.

All of a sudden a hot, searing pain erupted on his back. From the corner of his eye, he could see the five of them holding whips, knives,a pipe,a chain, cigarettes, and empty beer bottles. Do ya all know where this is going? Don't worry, you'll get a break soon.

Yugi continued to scream and cry as the whip was brought down mercilessly upon his back. He could swear, besides the fact he felt like he was being cut to pieces, that chunks of skin and flesh were being shred off as well.

His dad came up behind him and pulled out another knife. He placed it about half an inch from Yugi's spine, at the base of his neck, and with one swift stroke to the tailbone blood was pouring out of an already marred back.

He bit his lip to suppress the verbal expression of his pain. His dad moved to the other side of the spinal column and repeated the process. This time, he arched his back and pulled up to get away. Since his hands were still pinned to the wall, all he managed to do was rip them farther and make the holes bigger.

Now the only thing he _could_ do was scream. Anyone that was around could hear his mourning and feel his pain. They all felt sorry for him and intended on calling the police a few times, but they were all stopped with a threat to their lives.

Yugi never knew his dad would go this far. He's never been beaten this bad before, and getting friends to help didn't occur to him. Who knew his dad would go this insane? This was bad.

But things were about to get a whole hell of a lot worse. Nothing could compare to what he was about to feel. No matter how bad Yugi thought this was, it was only the beginning.

**THAT WASN'T SO BAD NOW WAS IT? THERE'S MORE COMING IN A LITTLE WHILE AFTER ANOTHER SCENE.

* * *

**

The car sped down the road, the occupants all being tossed around like they were in a martini shaker. Rosa was driving like a maniac (and she actually enjoyed it), Laura was holding onto the front seat for dear life and Yami was having a hard time keeping the Greyhound on his lap and not falling himself.

"Goddam it, slow down!" Yami was yelling for Rosa to stop, but she was too into the moment. "Stop the fucking car!" She screeched to a halt and everyone went flying forward.

It was a good thing she stopped so fast too. They were right before the street and if she had gone any further, they all would have been seen. Yami ordered Rosa to back the car up a bit; just to be sure they were safe.

Snapper shook herself off and daintily stepped out of the car, followed by Yami, Laura and even Rosa. "We must go to my house and wait. I can't fight for the life of me and you," she pointed to Yami, "are in no condition to do basically anything." She nodded in Rosa's direction. "Unless you are trained in either of the ancient arts of Tai-Kwon-Doe or Karate, you don't stand a chance and the only thing Snapper can do is bite."

There was a pause that lasted about a minute as everyone stood in awkward silence. They had no idea what to say. Yami finally had had enough and burst.

"Wait! What do you mean we have to wait?" Yami almost shouted. He brought his voice down to a whisper. "Yugi has a drunk lunatic for a father that could kill him at any moment and you expect me to stand by and let that happen?" He had a certain forcefulness in his tone of voice that would have convinced anyone that they were wrong.

Anyone but Laura. She knew what to expect better than Yami did, and all she had to do was show it in the right way. "If you go in there now, who knows what could happen! You could be killed!"

"I don't care what happens to me! As long as Yugi is safe. Nothing else in my life is more important right now. At least I'll be dying for a good reason."

"If you get killed, who will be there to save Yugi then! If you get killed, he'll have no hope of ever seeing the light of day again! Stop being a selfless bastard and think of your own safety for once! Because _that_ will make all the difference in this situation!"

Her words hit him hard and fast. He finally understood. He would have to ditch all of his old methods of doing things and play this flawlessly.

This was no longer just a matter of life and death for Yugi. In fact, this was no longer real life. This was like a game. One wrong move and it throws the whole thing off. In that case, whether it be family or friends or next door neighbors, everyone loses something.

"Okay, let's go. We'll wait at your house, but the second they leave, we go. I almost lost Yugi once and I want to make sure it never happens again." The trio slunk across the street to the opposite side.

"We can go away from the house on the opposite side and double back on the right to get to my house unseen." Laura pulled on Snapper's leash and they silently stalked the road. The whole thing was completely deserted. All of the doors seemed to be locked and the shutters were pulled tightly over the windows.

Laura nervously took the house key from her pocket and put it in the slot. It was like she couldn't turn it slow enough. When the door finally opened, the three people and the dog piled into the quaint kitchen.

It had light wood paneling on the upper half of the walls, and cream colored wallpaper on the bottom. The cabinets were oak, flowery ceramic knobs donning every bottom-right corner. The drawers had metal pulls and everywhere you looked some kind of cat related knick-knack was in sight. On the left was a mahogany table with an open first aid kit on top, the contents strewn about in a messy heap. On the right was a hallway that led to the rest of the house.

"Make yourselves at home. We may have a long wait ahead of us, and you're my guests. You two can head on out into the living room while I fix us something to eat and drink." Yami turned to follow Rosa when he heard a scream.

"YUGI!" Yami bolted for the door with lightning speed, but Laura was still faster. She pressed herself against the door to block the only way out. Yami wasn't going anywhere.

At first he was seriously pissed off because he was blocked, but then he remembered what he had been told earlier and backed down. Yugi needed him… But Yami couldn't be there to help…

Tears appeared at the corner of his eyes. He sank to his knees and hugged his upper body. Yami leaned forward and cried. He was shaking uncontrollably as the salty water continued to drip to the floor. Laura and Rosa moved from their positions to console the teary-eyed teen.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. He knew he had to wait, but there was no way he could stand it. Yami tried to calm himself many times, but failed each time another outcry reached his ears. After a while he became oblivious to everything around him. He spaced out and went into his own little world. He could think about anything he wanted, and what he chose was Yugi.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he came back to reality. He found himself in a chair at the kitchen table with Rosa and Laura patiently waiting for him to snap out of it. He cleared his throat, causing both women to jump. Rosa dropped her mug, which shattered when it hit the floor; and Laura fell off her chair.

They gathered themselves together, sat back down on their chairs, and looked on intently for Yami to say something. He took a deep breath and turned his attention to his driver. "Would you excuse us for a while?" He asked. "I want to find a few things out that you really don't need to know."

She was a little hurt and surprised but nodded once and left the room. The two occupants that were left in the kitchen sat in silence for a moment. "What happened to Yugi's father to make him act like this? Did something happen to him or was he always this," he paused to think of the right thing to say. "You know… this… abusive?"

The other bit her lip. "I know what happened, Yugi told me himself. But I also know that if he were here right now with us, he wouldn't want me to tell anyone, not even you. After you take him away from his father, he will fully trust you. He may think of you as a friend, but that doesn't mean he's not expecting you to hurt him. That's all Yugi has known throughout his life. It might take some time, Yami, but soon he should open up a bit more and come out and say it."

"But- I-" one glare was all it took for Yami to realize that no matter how hard he tried, he wasn't going to get anything out of her. Not of that question, anyway. So he decided to change it more towards her. "How did you come to know Yugi?"

Yami's eyes followed Laura's movements as she pushed her chair closer and sat down again. She took the medical kit and started removing his old, worn out bandages before she spoke. "Believe it or not, I bear a striking resemblance to Yugi's mother. When he was four years old, something happened. From my house I could see him running out the door, so I ran out too. He thought I was his mom and ran into my home when he saw his father coming. From then on…"

\\\ Twelve years ago /

The four-year-old sat on the bench beneath the window, watching as the rain fell steadily on each of the six sections of the transparent glass. He was constantly wiping his tear-stained bluish-lavender eyes so he could get a clearer picture of the scene outside.

His father was talking to a woman outside that he thought was his mother. He was scared that his dad would hurt his mom again. He didn't want that to happen. He only wanted his mom to come back and hold him like she always did.

The two people outside had to shout over the pouring rain hitting the ground and the thunder rolling over it to hear each other. This was a convenience to Yugi because he could hear the whole conversation. So he put his ear to the frosty glass and listened.

"Where in hell is my fucking kid? His name is Yugi and he has black hair, kinda spiky, with blonde bangs! You had to have seen him! He came by here a few minutes ago! I need to find him so he doesn't go telling the whole neighborhood what he saw!" His father had to shout above Mother Nature's anger and it made his throat raw and his voice sound cracked.

"I'm sorry! I haven't seen him anywhere! But I promise if I do find him, I'll bring him back right away!" She didn't like the idea of lying to this man, but she was doing it anyway. It scared her to find out exactly what had happened, and a flash of lightning not too far off betrayed her, lighting up her face and showing her fear. Her throat was now sore too and before he could question her further, she ran off and disappeared into the sanctity of her own home.

Once inside, she took off her green and clear striped plastic raincoat and matching hat. Hanging them on the door, she looked at the gloomy weather outside and sighed. It was then that she noticed tufts of silky black hair framing a small, round face.

The boy was crying, and by the looks if it, had been for a very long time. She gasped. He had the most stunning eyes, in one of the rarest of colors. He smiled when he saw her, but then something must have dawned on him and he frowned, crying once more.

She shuffled over to the four-year-old and held him in an attempt to placate him. She was right about the hair. It was soft and had the most wonderful scent, something like a mix of honey, peach and ginger. There were faint traces of magenta coming in on the tips of each of the spikes and light golden blonde bangs framing the pale face that reflected the light just right. "You must be Yugi." She whispered soothingly. "Your father has been looking for you."

"NO!" He suddenly screamed. He tried to pull away, but whoever she was, she had a tight grip on his wrists. "I don't want to go back! You can't make me!" Yugi was finally able to pull his hands free and ran towards the back of the house and up the stairs.

It took the woman a few minutes to register what had happened. Then she got up after the child. She looked in every room and finally found him crying on her bed. She went up to him and rubbed his back. "Would you like to tell me what happened?" She asked. "Oh, and by the way, my name's Laura." She added.

The two talked for an unlimited amount of time. It could have been minutes, hours or days. They didn't know. They didn't care, they were enjoying each other's company and the rest of the day dragged on until Yugi finally fell asleep.

\\\ Back to present / 1

"What happened after that?" Yami knew so little and had so many questions. He needed to know everything he possibly could about Yugi.

"The next day, Yugi said he wanted to step outside for a while. Before he had a chance to get off the front porch, his father grabbed him and from then on I only saw him when he secretly came over once or twice a month."

There were a few minutes silence before he started again. He reached into his pocked and pulled out one of the golden puzzle pieces he had grabbed earlier. "Do you know what this is? Does it mean anything to Yugi? I found it near him before and kept it along with the others."

She looked up at Yami from her place on the floor. "I've never seen it before. And I would appreciate it if you didn't move. I haven't finished dressing your wounds yet."

"I wish you wouldn't. I'm going to have to take the bandages off to take a shower anyway." Inspecting them a little closer, he saw that they were neatly wrapped and pulled tightly to ensure they would stay on. "These bandages are put on so well, it's almost as if you were a professional." He said with a hint of amusement working into his words.

"I am." She replied blatantly. "Or, at least I was. I used to be a nurse in Oceanside General Hospital. Sure it's a long commute, but it's better than the local one. I wouldn't work there for a salary of a million dollars an hour."

"Why don't you work there anymore? Didn't you like your job?" Yami had headed toward the stairs, seeing as how the only rooms downstairs were the kitchen, living room, dining room, and sitting room.

"The hospital was a small one and not many people took business there. After a few years it closed down and they built a bigger, better hospital with more technology in its place. They were only able to hire me back for another seven years and then I was laid off to make room for others."

"Well, I have something to ask of you. It's more like a request than a question though. Since you're a retired nurse and know Yugi so well, I would like it if you were to come back with the two of us to my place. You know him better than I do and I won't have a clue as to what I'm doing medical wise."

"Are you offering me a job?"

"Kind of. You would live in my mansion and everything you could ever need or want will be given to you."

"How is what you're telling me about not a job? What's so different about this?"

"You don't have to go to work every day. You get more benefits than any other profession provides. You can have a whole floor in the house if you want. If you want a big screen TV, you got it! If you want Chinese bed sheets, you got it! If you want me to but you a country, you got it!"

"Really? Could I really have all of that? And just for watching over Yugi in the aspects you can't?"

Yami chuckled a bit and ran into the bathroom. Through the door was heard, "Everything but the part about the country! I don't have _that_ much money!"

Laura giggled lightly to herself as she heard the shower turn on and the curtains close. She opened the door to let the steam out. Then she went to the back and unlocked the window so minimal air could get in the room. On the way back, she picked up Yami's clothes.

'I think I'll wash these. They look awful.' "Do you always hum in the shower?" She asked, casually walking out the door.

An embarrassed head poked through the fabric wall and sunk back in just as fast when Yami saw she was still in the bathroom. He stopped humming and was mumbling incoherent things while scrubbing his body vigorously from head to toe.

He stopped at a wound on his right shoulder that curved around from the front to the back. He skipped over it and just rinsed it out with a bit of water. He got it overten years ago and it still hurt like one from yesterday.

An equally painful set of memories rose. Yami fought to keep them at bay so he wouldn't break down. He absolutely could not, would not, allow that to happen. This was a time he needed to stay strong. Now more than ever.

"I left some towels on the sink for when you're done. I'll be waiting for you in the kitchen."

Yami waited about a half an hour to makesure no one was around and quickly stepped out of the shower. He wrapped one towel around his waist and used the other to dry his hair. Looking around, he realized his clothes weren't on the floor anymore.

"Now, I could have sworn I-" He stopped mid-sentence and sighed heavily. He stalked down the stairs, shaking his head.

Laura was sitting at the kitchen dinette, on the bench under the window. She was gazing over everything she could see, absently tracing her finger around the rim of the ceramic mug with a cat design she held. A saddened expression was plastered on her face, making her seem aged far beyond her years.

Yami quietly moved with catlike grace. In one swift, stealthful I think I made that word up motion, he was next to her and sat down, never making a sound. "Where are my clothes?"

She shot out of the seat and spun around, about to use the mug for a defensive weapon if necessary. "Being scared out of my mind once a day is enough, thank you. And here you are doing it twice."

"Where are my clothes?" He repeated.

A buzzing noise rang throughout the room. "That would be them now." She walked over to the hidden door on the opposite side of the rest of the house. It looked like a closet, but in actuality it was a laundry room. "Do you want them hung over the line, or can I just throw them in the dryer?"

"In the dryer is good. I think they need to shrink a bit anyway. I bought them a size or two too big. But hang the jacket, if you don't mind. And when that dries, put the pieces back in the pockets. I don't want to lose them."

She nodded and disappeared into the room.Forty minutes later, she came out with a warm bundle of shrunken leather. She sighed contentedly. The smell of freshly washed anything made her feel calm. "Here you-" she hushed herself abruptly. Yami was fast asleep, his arms crossed on the table and his head resting in them.

She tried to pick him up and nothing but dragged him up the stairs. How he could still be asleep was completely beyond her. In the end she ended up carrying him over her back and almost literally throwing him on the bed. She laid his clothes out on the desk in the guest bedroom and slumped exhausted into a bedside chair, being sure not to hit the night table like she always did.

"I think it's just me, but either you're a lot heavier than you look like you are, or I'm the weakest person in the world. I personally would opt for the latter, I've never been strong."

She softly sighed and brushed some black hair off his face, putting it back in its proper place. She looked closer at his features. Yami's face was scrunched in turmoil and he was mumbling. Laura didn't have a clue as to what he was saying, but figured it wasn't important right now anyway. His face relaxed, showing pain, anger, and hate. There was also happiness, covered over as if by a veil, under years of the other three feelings.

Laura had learned that you can tell a lot from a person's eyes and face. Yami started off being happy, but then tragedy struck and something went terribly wrong. The rest of his life was probably sad up until a few years ago.

Laura got up from the rocking chair and stepped over to the door as if the floor were made of eggshells. She gave Yami one last sympathetic look and closed the door to leave him in a peaceful sleep.

* * *

**THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF THE BLOOD AND GORE. IT'S LONGER THAN THE FIRST PART AND WILL CARRY TO ALMOST THE END OF THE CHAPTER.**

In the house next door, things weren't so peaceful. Yugi had long since been taken off the wall and was now sitting on the ground. It was a miracle he still had his hands, if only barely. He was trying to stand, but his legs felt like they were going to give out any minute and he lost almost all feeling in both of his arms.

He had two slits on the top of each of his arms. As the blood dripped, it seemed to follow the pattern of the veins closest to his skin. It betrayed him, showing his weakest points, where he was most vulnerable.

With great effort he was finally able to stand. He was half hunched over and his arms hung limply at his sides. Everything was swirling and the colors were mixing. He wasn't blacking out nor having tunnel vision. It was just anyone and anything that was around looked like masses of contrasting pigments, gliding effortlessly across a red-splotched landscape.

Yugi wasn't aware of who was doing what to him, only that he was being tortured and could feel all the pain. Did fate find that funny? Hopefully not, because he wasn't laughing. He hadn't the strength to laugh. Or cry, or scream, or plead, or fight back.

Even though he was alive he felt dead. He felt cold, torn and dead. Life wasn't worth living anymore, anyway. Without Yami, Yugi was just another kid with an unsolvable problem. He was nothing. He was worthless; no one had cared about him before, and now that Yami was gone, no one will ever care about him. Remember, Yugi still thinks Yami is dead.

His vision came back to normal just in time to see his dad send him flying across the room. He skidded across the glass table on his stomach and landed flat against the wall with a thud and a crack.

He fell to the floor, moaning in pain. Why did this have to happen? What did he do to deserve this? He has asked himself those questions over and over, but to this day, they still went unanswered.

A fifth guy held him upright by the hair somewhere else in the room. The other four started beating him over the head with empty beer bottles, a pipe and a chain. Then one of them pressed something into his shoulder in multiple places, each time a searing hot burning sensation washing over him. The man let go of his hair and right before he hit the ground, a punch was thrown at his face.

The force sent him headfirst into the wall. He slid to the floor, a thick line of blood following on the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the group leaving the room, laughing the whole time.

'Oh, God, please let it be over.' He thought. That startled him. Yugi was surprised he could even think.

There was something weird about the way they were beating him that had what little pieces of his mind he had left on edge. They seemed to be attacking him in sections. Usually, it was a full frontal attack on his whole body at once.

But this time, first went his back, then arms, next was his head and after that his neck. Yugi struggled to sit up so he could think with a clearer mind. He focused his eyes on the floor, then his legs. They haven't been touched; neither has his chest. They were probably next. Though it was weird how those certain parts were left untouched longer than the others were.

Something was definitely going to happen, something worth preparing for. 'How can I prepare for something if I don't even know what it is or when it's coming?'

Yugi had a hard time believing that people could ever have fun by nearly killing another human being. They were so sick. That summed it up simply enough. A few minutes later they all came out from wherever they had been, probably the kitchen.

Four went over to the couch and sat down, one separated and came over. No doubt his father. He was dragged into his own room by one of his arms. He was then thrown to the floor and the door clicked shut.

Yugi didn't like the way his father was staring at him, nor did he like the position he was laying in. Besides the fact that his back was rubbing into the carpet and being seriously irritated, something was different about the style of everything today.

He ran away, met a friend, was re-kidnapped to his own home, his friend died, and now this. Before all that, his father tried to kiss him and called him his whore. Wait!

Yugi's eyes became clouded with tears and fear wen he figured out what was going on. At the same time, the lock on the door clicked. He closed his eyes and tried not to look.

He was slapped across the face. "Keep your eyes open!" He reluctantly obeyed and saw his dad straddled over his waist and a finger tracing along his jawline, then down his chest.

"You know what's coming, don't you?" Yugi flinched when a hand brushed against his nipple. "I want to get at least one good fuck out of you before I have to kill you."

Yugi felt the adrenaline course through his body as his dad unzipped and pulled off his pants. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ let this happen. He was roughly kissed on the lips, making them bruised and swollen.

Then he moved downward to Yugi's neck. He moaned into his neck as he sucked on the pale flesh. Yugi tried to push him off but he was too weak. Tears leaked out of his eyes, straight back onto the carpet.

He cried harder and squirmed under the feel of his dad's tongue on his chest. He could feel his father's arousal growing hard against his own and that's when he was about to go insane with fear.

An idea made it past all the swirling thoughts and feelings to his head. He made subtle movements with one of his legs, slowly moving it to where he could carry out his idea. Suddenly, he thrust his knee up as hard and fast as he could, hitting is father in the groin.

His dad went reeling back, giving Yugi the opportunity to escape. He didn't get far before he was pinned against the wall, standing up. Both his arms were painfully twisted behind his back.

"Even you aren't worth all this trouble." He whispered. He brought the blade of a knife closer to rest on his skin. "This is where it ends." He pressed Yugi even firmer into the wall as the knife blade sliced its way down his leg.

The sheer force sent him to the ground on his knees. The blood loss was a lot more than he expected it to be. He felt his leg going numb rapidly. His dad pulled him up, but he couldn't stand. The more he tried the weaker he got and the more he felt like fainting.

Yugi was slapped across his face, making him fall backward to the floor. He felt a sickeningly familiar weight on his hips and opened his eyes half way to see his father sitting on him again. Only this time he was putting all his weight on Yugi's upper thighs so that his legs went numb and he couldn't try to kick the man off again.

Yugi suddenly found his hands pinned above his head, followed by an excruciating wave of pain coming from his broken arm. His father brought the knife down upon Yugi's face and made a thin slice from the top of his jaw to the base of his neck. He repeated the motion on the other side, making sure he dragged the knife very slowly to cause his son as much pain as possible.

He lifted himself off of Yugi and stood to get a good look at what he had done to the boy. He smirked as he jerked his half-unconscious son off the floor by his arms. Yugi began to cry again when he felt the cold metal of the knife marring the skin on his chest. He didn't dare to try to get away or even move as he waited for his father to leave him alone so he could die in peace.

Unfortunately for Yugi, he had no such luck. His father took the knife and rammed it straight down into Yugi's stomach. The blood rose in his throat as he slumped to the floor.

**IT'S OVER NOW; YOU CAN START READING AGAIN. IF YOU SKIPPED THIS PART, THAT IS.**

He was then dragged to the set of chains at the foot of the bed. His legs were locked first, then his hands and neck. His dad threaded the neck chain through the loop that was higher up on the wall and hooked it to the arm chains.

His head was held much higher than it was supposed to go and if he tried to push it down any further, then his arms would rise and he would still be choking. That would be painful on account of his broken arm. Not to mention his hands had holes through them.

Yugi watched, unmoving, not making a sound, as his dad pulled his pants on and exited the room. The door was slammed in his face, followed by the sound of the front door closing.

Somehow, Yugi knew that not everyone was gone. It didn't matter anyway; he was going to die. So why worry about the outside when his last moments would be in the very room that started it all?

'Yami, I wish you were still here with me. I miss…' before he could finish his thought, his eyes slipped closed for one last time.

* * *

Yami was pacing nervously around the center of the small upstairs bedroom. He had woken up from a nightmare a while ago, though he hadn't told anyone about it. He was fully clothed, except for the jacket sprawled out on the already disastrous bed.

"Go any faster and you'll tread a gaping hole in my floor." Laura chided. She got up and brought him over to the window.

He raised an eyebrow, skeptically. "Just wait and see. I think something is about to happen." She was right. The front door of the house next door suddenly burst open. Four figures got into an old, rusty pickup and drove off down the road.

The three occupants of the room waited until the truck was no longer in sight or hearing distance. Yami was the first to move and made a mad dash for the stairs. He flung himself out the cherry pine door, speeding faster than his legs could carry him.

Then he came face to face with the broken window. He swore he saw a shadow move to his right but couldn't be sure before there was a heated, searing pain in his side.

A man emerged from the shadows holding a gun, a sneer on his face. The expression was replaced by pure terror when he saw who it was. "You. You're supposed to be dead!" His voice wavered for a second in the beginning before he was able to gather himself together.

"Am I now? I haven't noticed." Yami tried freaking him out, but his attention was separated. Yugi was inside, this guy is out here and he just got shot.

"I'm gonna make sure I get you this time." He aimed the gun at Yami's head.

There was nowhere for him to run. As soon as the trigger was pulled, it would be over. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a gray-black blur latch itself onto the other man's hand.

The harder he shook the firmer hold Snapper had on his hand. He clenched his hand shut to get the dog off him. It resulted in a shot ringing and landing in the woods somewhere.

Yami ran past the struggling man into the house. Yugi lived here all right. He could tell by the bloody walls and floor throughout the house. There were also hundreds of tiny pieces of glass under his feet that broke when he stepped on them. The whole place smelled of smoke, alcohol and blood.

This was one time where he wished he had no sense of smell. It made him want to vomit. Looking down, Yami saw drag smears on the cream colored carpet. Also, on the wall across from him, there were two holes in it and a shirt on the ground.

Yugi's shirt! This was more critical than he thought. He had to get his friend out if here as fast as he possibly could. He followed the trail until it veered to the right and went behind a closed door.

He had a strong feeling, like a pulling at his heart, that Yugi was inside. He put his hand on the doorknob and stopped. What was it like in there? How bad was it? He was scared. For the first time in years he admitted he was afraid of what lay beyond the wooden barrier.

'No. I can't let anything get in the way. I have to do this.' He paused his line of thought and took a deep breath. This he said aloud, "I have to be strong for Yugi."

He pushed the door open, not without difficulty, and fell to his knees nearly fainting at the sight. This was one time where he wished he wasn't able to see. He crawled to the figure chained to the wall.

Yugi was in worse than horrible condition. He had every kind of cut imaginable on his diminutive frame. His back looked like it was almost skinned and there were small, narrow slash marks all over his chest. His head was bent backwards farther than it was supposed to go. His arms and legs were contorted to make the position he was in a rather uncomfortable one.

But the worst thing was the fact that Yugi was completely naked. Not a shred of clothing was left on any part of his body. "Please tell me that what I think happened didn't happen." He said, tears stinging his eyes as he stroked the smaller's cheek.

The blood poured onto his hand from his head and mouth, quickly filling up the cupped part and spilling over the sides. Yami unhooked all the chains and Yugi was finally able to relax. He fell onto the other's lap and coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood.

He tried to open his eyes and only succeeded for a moment or two before he fully collapsed. Yami could feel this and it made him even more worried than he was before. He gingerly picked Yugi up off his legs and carried him over to the bed. Carefully placing him down, being mindful of the younger's injuries, he wrapped him in the heaviest blanket he could find.

Yami ran out the door into the street at top speed. He stopped in the middle, not sure what to do. 'I better think of something fast. I'm not sure how much longer Yugi can hold on.'

He frantically started pacing again in order to get his brain going. 'What can I do? Laura said she wouldn't work at the local hospital for a million dollars an hour. She also said that the one she used to work at was a long commute. I'm sure Yugi won't be alive by the time I get there.'

His heart sank when he realized there might be nothing he could do. "This has been one hell of a Christmas. It can't get any worse. If it can get any better, please let it be soon."

All of a sudden, a strong wind picked up from nowhere. It seemed to guide him towards the edge of the woods. Through the thick brush, he was just able to make out the outline of a mansion. _Seto's_ mansion. That's it! Seto had a medical wing that had the best technology on the mainland. If he cut through the woods, he could get there in ten minutes or maybe even less.

"Thank you!" He shouted joyfully. Yami ran into the thicket, holding Yugi to him tighter than before. He wasn't going to lose him. Not again, not ever again.

He had little trouble getting to Seto's by way of the forest. He emerged on the other side, hair full of leaves and the once white down comforter completely red from the blood draining Yugi's life away little by little.

Finally reaching the house, he remembered the gate. That was another obstacle that needed to be taken care of. He reached out with one bloodied hand to press the button that would allow him in.

"Listen, whoever the fuck you are, you can leave now. It's Christmas, you dumb ass, so go home to your own family. Leave my brother and I in peace." Seto's gruff, and clearly annoyed, voice answered.

"Oh, nice. That really hurt." After a moment of thought, Yami added, "Say hello to Mokuba for me then."

A shocked voice rang through the speaker. "Yami! What are you doing here!"

"Never mind, let me in! It's an emergency!" The stainless steel bars, painted black, immediately opened out towards Yami. He ran backwards to avoid getting hit and faltered.

His side was really starting to hurt now. It took all he had to keep from dropping the half-dead human he cared for so much. He quickly walked up to the already open front door where Seto was waiting.

As soon as he got inside and the door closed, he fell to his knees, just about to cry. Seto extended a hand, which Yami gratefully took. "Yami, what happened? What's going on?" He felt squeamish when he looked at his friend and all the blood.

He waited until he could form coherent sentences before speaking "I made a friend today, and his name is Yugi. I'll tell you the details later, but right now he's dying and I need your doctors to help him." Yami got a skeptical look. Now he was desperate. "Please! I'll do anything! I need your help! You _have_ to save him!"

Seto looked at him with a raised eyebrow once again. Yami uncovered Yugi's face, showing the cuts and bruises. Seto was shocked by how badly he was bruised. "Holy shit, what happened to him!" He suddenly wanted to help Yugi more than anything in the world.

Seto took Yugi and handed him to one of his on-call medics. There were a few words being exchanged, then the doctor went down a hallway, calling every available qualified person to help. "What happened, again? You never said."

"Again, I'll explain the details later." Yami was struggling to keep his balance; he was pretty banged up too. Seto slung one of Yami's arms around his shoulders for support and held his friend up with an arm of his own. Yami seemed short of breath. "All I'm saying is that it was bad. Really bad."

"You know, you're not looking so good yourself. Let me get you patched up, and then we'll talk." Yami nodded. They started walking towards a room, doctors, nurses and specialists panicking and rushing down the corridor to get to the second to last room on the right.

Seto's shirt suddenly felt wet. He looked over to see Yami bleeding all over his shoulder. It was also getting harder to walk. Seto could tell because it was getting harder to help him. He had to hold most of his weight. "I don't want to lose him. He's like me in more ways than one, he's the only one like me."

Seto was baffled. What did that mean? He didn't understand now, but he wanted an explanation later. Ever since Yami came into his life, things have been screwed up big time. His life had gotten more hectic and dangerous. Whenever Yami got into trouble, he always had to drag him into it. Sometimes he even took Bakura and Marik along. That's when the chaos and insanity started.

There was a specific set of rules about life that a person had to follow. Ones that were there, no one knew about, and they weren't written down. The number one rule in this circle of friends was: _Never leave Bakura and Marik alone together if you want the world to be there five minutes later._

The four of them shared a tight bond that could never be broken. Seto was shaken out of his reveries when Yami started to lose his grip on his shoulder. "Hang on, we're almost to the room. Just a few more doors and then…"

He never finished what he was saying. "Promise me you'll do everything you can to save him." Was all that Yami uttered before his eyes closed and he fell forward to the floor, unmoving.

* * *

_8-6-05_

Soulless: Well, that's it for now. I'm sorry, but I had to do that. I will accept minor flaming for this chapter, but no more than that. There will also be no chat with the characters because Yami and Yugi are in no position to do anything right now.

Seto: Hey! What about me?

Soulless: You're not funny. You always take everything too seriously.

Seto: And that makes me not funny?

Soulless: Well, yes.

Oh, and the 1 thing after the little time lapse thingie means that I'll be using the same symbols for time lapses and flashbacks. You'll know which is which because a flashback will say \\\ Flashback /. Okay?

Sorry this took so long, but I was away for a few days, so yea. In your face. As I said before, I will accept minor flaming (and maybe a few death threats), but nothing more. Oh, and positive reviews will be appreciated and hoped for, but not expected. I don't think I have anything else to say, except that chapter four will be out shortly. You people should enjoy the fast updates while you can, because once I start school in September I won't be able to update as fast. Usually I wouldn't care, but seeing as how my parents reacted when I just barely made it to the tenth grade, I'm not taking any chances… I really don't want to be locked in my room again…

Now, to respond to a review: **Otaro Ruiyen**: Yes, you're right. Nobody cares about Yami. Not a single one…

I also want to thank: ladygodess and kkwyDragonflame for their reviews.

And that's it for now. Go away. Leave me the fuck alone.


	4. Hospital Days

Chapter 4: Hospital Days

Disclaimer: See chapter three.

I would like to thank KiraLucifer and Go-ruden Kiba, the only reviewers I had for chapter three. I am thanking you profusely, because of the four hundred and thirty-six hits I have, for some reason a total of only eight people reviewed. I'm just pointing that out. And again, thank you, KiraLucifer and Go-ruden Kiba. Yea, and as another note, my notes to you will look like this: (A/N: ………) because the brackets don't show up for some odd reason, and parts of the actual story will look like this: (………). Got it? Good.

* * *

A faint and unsteady beeping, the sound of forced breathing, the strange squishing noise as liquid was mechanically pumped from a bag. Seto Kaiba had heard these sounds over and over again day after day for the past five days. By this point he was somewhat distressed over the whole situation. Yami should have woken up days ago… For some reason he was having a hard time overcoming the affects of the anesthesia.

He sighed. Yami was usually a lot stronger than this. He didn't doubt that Yami had the strength to wake up, but did he have the will? Maybe Yami was somehow aware that his friend wasn't doing all that well and he didn't want to come back into this world without him. Then again, maybe not.

Yami _had_ been shot a few times, after all. The bullet in his side came dangerously close to his stomach and he suffered from a small amount of internal bleeding, but Seto's doctors were able to stop the bleeding before it got out of control. When the other bullet had hit his arm the bone splintered slightly, but the graze mark was nothing to worry about. Something that _did_ worry Seto, however, was the various cuts and bruises found on his chest and neck when he had gone into surgery.

Seto had absolutely no idea as to what had happened to Yami or the other kid (Seto couldn't remember his name, having heard it only once), and he was itching to find out. Any bastard who had done this to his best friend would die and his body would be dumped off somewhere by the side of the road. By his own hands if he had to.

He stayed on the couch in Yami's hospital room for another full three minutes. For three minutes he sat with his elbow resting on the arm of the couch and his cheek leaning against his hand. After that he sighed again, got up, and slowly walked toward the door. The second he laid his hand on the handle there was a soft coughing sound and the beeping of the heart monitor grew louder.

Seto instantly turned back from the door to look at Yami's bed. What he saw surprised him and made him do a slight double take. Yami had opened his eyes half way and was trying to sit up in bed. He was glad to see his friend awake, but happiness quickly faded away to slight fear. The consistent beeping soon became faster and erratically spaced. All the other gauges that were hooked up to various places on Yami's body started to go out of control with warning noises and small flashes of light every now and then.

Seto knew that Yami hated being in the hospital, even if it was Seto's own personal one. He also knew that Yami would try to run as soon as he got the chance to do so. For that specific reason, Seto had restrained his friend, securing his arms and torso to the bed so that he wouldn't hurt himself. Yami usually had more sense than most but when it came to lying in a hospital bed all that sense escaped him. That was evident now as Seto saw his friend trying to break the straps that held him down.

This made Seto very worried again, for he could tell that Yami would literally knock himself out if he continued to struggle. So he walked back over to the side of the bed and placed the back of his hand on the other's forehead. Yami's eyes snapped up to where Seto was standing. He stopped moving the instant he recognized who it was. He cast his gaze downward, his eyes becoming half-lidded again, and let his head fall back onto the pillow. Seto watched sadly as his friend closed his eyes, slowly slipping back into the world of unconsciousness.

He turned back to the door and put his hand on the handle again. This time, as he began to turn it, everything was quiet. He sighed sadly, opened the door, and left his friend to get some rest until he came back in the morning.

* * *

When Seto walked in the next morning, he was very pleased with what he saw. Yami was fully awake, and yet he wasn't trying to break the restraints like he was last night. He was laying in bed, seemingly patiently waiting for the doctor hovering over him to take the straps off. But as Seto got closer, he could see the agitation etched into his friend's face.

As soon as Yami noticed Seto, he gave him a long stare before yelling, "Get these fucking things _off_, will you!"

The doctor nodded and went to pull the strap holding one of Yami's arms down, but Yami pulled away as far as he could. He didn't want anyone he didn't know touching him. The doctor was confused, but left Yami alone nonetheless and walked out of the room.

Yami turned to Seto again, the agitation replaced with the faintest trace of a smile. That was the closest Yami had come to smiling that Seto had ever seen. It depressed Seto a little bit, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind and smiled back at Yami.

Neither teen found anything to say as Seto removed the restraints from Yami's forearms and torso. The awkward silence lasted a while longer before Yami finally spoke up. His voice reflected the weariness that he felt now that he didn't have to concentrate on being restrained anymore.

"I… know that what you did… was meant to help me… and I appreciate it…. But, please… don't do it again…" Yami hated to admit it, but it was getting hard to breathe without that stupid oxygen thing helping him. He also had trouble forming the words in his mouth and sounding them out. He felt so out of it that he wasn't even sure if Seto understood what he had said.

Seto's answer of "I'll keep that in mind" didn't help much either, because by then Yami had forgotten what he had said to his friend in the first place. He stared blankly at Seto for a few moments before yawning slightly and closing his eyes.

"So, I guess you're not ready for visitors yet?"

"Hnm?" Yami looked back at his friend. Had he said something?

Seto forced himself to smile. "Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow, Yami." He helped his friend get comfortable enough to sleep and then left his room for the night.

As he was walking down that hallway back towards the main house, he couldn't help thinking that maybe Yami was going a little insane. He was talking like he was drugged rather than tired. 'Next thing I know, he'll probably start hallucinating; then it'll be trouble.'

Seto sighed and shook his head slightly. He didn't know what to do with his friend for the time being. He could just leave him alone for a couple of days, but in Yami's condition he would take it the wrong way. 'Maybe Yami will be better when I visit him tomorrow. But until then, I'll just have to hope for the best.'

* * *

When Seto walked into the bland hospital room the next morning, he was more relieved to see Yami than he ever had been. He was sitting up in bed, and he looked… normal. He didn't appear to be stressed, overly tired, or drugged. He was a completely different person than he was last night.

But it still felt like something was wrong. Yami was staring out the window with a far away look in his eyes. He was either getting sick or just deep in thought. Seto hoped that it was the latter one. He cleared his throat loud enough for his friend to hear. Yami's head snapped up to where Seto was standing. He smiled slightly, but Seto could tell that the teen was sad about something.

"I suppose I haven't been entirely there for the past two days." There was a hint of anguish in his voice, like he knew something that was painful to him and wouldn't tell anyone about it. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry for the trouble you went through…"

"Yami, please. You're my friend and I would do anything for you. That includes putting up with you acting like you've gone off the deep end."

Yami almost laughed at that. Having Seto around was making him feel better by the minute. But there was still something (or rather _someone_) in the back of his mind that he needed to address. "Seto? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead." Yami was beginning to worry him again. Since when did he ever ask anyone for permission to do _anything_?

"H-how is Y-Yugi doing?"

So _that_ was what this was about. The younger kid that Yami had brought in a week ago was his biggest concern at the moment. Not that Seto minded, but he still wished Yami hadn't brought the subject up. Not now, anyway. He didn't think Yami was ready to hear his answer just yet. Why couldn't he have waited a little longer before asking about Yugi?

Seto respected Yami, so he answered his question anyway. "Yugi is, well, it depends on how you look at it." Seto spoke slowly and chose his words carefully so as not to upset his distressed friend any further.

"Seto…" Yami gave him a warning look.

"Well, he's not in surgery anymore." Seto honestly had no idea what he was doing. The longer he put off telling Yami the more likely the chance that he would die by his friend's anger.

"I kinda expected _that_." Yami snapped. He had very little patience when it came to things like this. He wanted to know about his friend before he ended up killing someone.

"He just left the operating room this morning, in fact."

Yami was startled to hear that. The doctors had been operating on Yugi for almost three days? Wait a minute; how long had he been unconscious? Certainly it wasn't more than a day, two at the very most. But he couldn't be sure until he asked.

"Seto? How long did it take me to come to from the anesthesia?"

"About five days. Why?"

Yami was so surprised that he jumped and nearly fell off the edge of the bed. Now he realized why Seto was so reluctant to tell him about Yugi. The thought of Yugi being under the knife for a full seven days made shivers creep down his spine. But he was okay now, wasn't he?

"W-what about now? How is he doing?"

"Well," Seto started, "like I said when you first asked me that; it all depends on how you look at it."

"That means it's bad, doesn't it?"

Seto sighed. "Would you like to see him?"

Yami could only nod. He was at a loss for words. Yugi might be dying, beyond the grip of today's medicinal technologies. His breathing became semi-labored as Seto helped him to stand. The thought of losing Yugi made him feel weak and made his mind spin. As soon as his feet touched the ground he collapsed on himself and would have fallen to the floor if not for Seto's reflexes.

"Are you sure you're up to this? I mean, if you can't walk yet then you should wait another day or so before you go see Yugi."

"No, I have to go. I have to see Yugi; I have to see if he's okay for myself."

Seto admired Yami's determination, but in no way did he want Yami to hurt himself. This might be pushing it too far. Then again, he understood how Yami felt. From what he could tell, Yugi was as much a brother to Yami as Mokuba was to him. If he was willing to risk everything to help Mokuba, then Yami was willing to do the same for Yugi. And besides, Yami was his friend. As long as he was around, Yami wouldn't do anything rash and he wouldn't push himself. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"All right then. Let's go."

Yami looked surprised for a minute, but then that ghost of a smile came back to his face. They started walking slowly toward the door, that trace of a smile never leaving Yami's face. Seto could tell that his friend was happier than he'd been in a long time. But for some reason, over the years that they had been separated (A/N: More on that later), he had almost completely lost his ability (or will, depending on how you looked at it) to show his happiness.

It was a short walk to the room Yugi was in. When they turned the corner they saw some familiar faces staring back at them. First to come into view were Rosa and Laura. As soon as Yami saw them, he realized that he hadn't thought of either of them for the past two days. He suddenly wondered how they found out where he had gone. Fortunately, neither of them pressed the matter, which meant he didn't have to say anything.

The next person he saw was Mokuba. He was sitting in a chair, looking through the large piece of glass that separated Yugi from the rest of the world. There was evident confusion on his face; he had probably never seen anyone in his brother's hospital before. Yami knew that he wouldn't understand most of what was going on. He was only twelve, after all.

Yugi's dog was lying on the floor under the chair Mokuba was sitting in with her head resting on her paws. It seemed she knew what to expect better than anyone in the hallway. She was still worried though, made apparent by her soft whine every now and then. Her eyes shifted back and forth between the door and the hallway. She must have spotted Yami standing there, because she began barking loudly and ran toward him.

Just as she was about to jump and knock Yami to the ground, Laura grabbed her collar and forced her to sit back on the floor. At first Yami wondered why she had tried to attack him, but when he took a closer look he found that she didn't look like she was trying to hurt him. She was just excited to see him. Or maybe… maybe she thought he was Yugi. While the two of them didn't look the same to the human eye, a dog couldn't differentiate between the two as well. (A/N: Holy shit, did I have to look in a dictionary for that one!)

Yami looked at the dog again, another sliver of a smile appearing on his face. Snapper was just as eager to see Yugi as he was. Seto nudged him in the general direction of the chair next to Mokuba. As Yami sat down Snapper padded over to him, her nails clicking loudly against the tiled floor in an otherwise silent hallway, and sat down. The sliver of a smile never faded from Yami's face as he scratched the dog's head between her ears. He was glad that at least someone seemed to be as worried as he was.

Thinking of Yugi made him afraid. He was afraid of what he would see when he looked through the glass, afraid that Seto had lied and that everything wasn't okay. It made him want to get up, go back to his own room, curl up on the bed and stay there for a while. He would avoid seeing his friend until he was sure that he was feeling better. But Yami knew he couldn't do that. Yami knew that once Yugi woke up, he had to truthfully be able to say that he had always been there. His fear could go to hell.

He knew that eventually everything would be fine. But he wanted it to be okay _now_. When he looked through the window, he wanted to see Yugi's wide, violet eyes staring back at him. He wanted to walk into the room and see Yugi smiling at him, talking to him. But he knew that he couldn't have that; not yet, anyway. He knew that Yugi was in bad shape. It would take a long time for him to recover, let alone leave the hospital.

Yami shook his head. He was just making himself feel worse. He let his hand fall away from petting Snapper's head and sighed deeply. He came here to see Yugi, and that was what he was going to do. No matter what he saw he just had to keep reminding himself that it would eventually get better.

But when he looked through the large window he found it hard to believe what he had just said. Yugi was lying in the center of a completely white room. There were all sorts of machines and needles hooked up to him that Yami had never seen before. Tubes coming out of a machine went down into his throat behind the oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose. It scared him to know that Yugi couldn't breathe on his own. Every now and then his breathing became uneven and he unconsciously coughed up a small amount of blood into the tube. Yami scanned over the various machines in the room: the heart monitor, the oxygen regulator (A/N: forgot what it was called), the two bags of clear IV liquid hanging from metal racks, and the series of needles and wires that took blood out of his body, cleaned it, and put it back every second.

Taking his gaze off the machines, he turned to study Yugi himself; and immediately his heart plunged into his stomach. He couldn't see much of Yugi, but from what he could see he knew that he was in really bad shape. His only visible arm was heavily bandaged all the way from his hand to his shoulder. The bandages continued past his shoulder onto his chest, but how far down they went Yami couldn't tell. His neck was also wrapped in the long piece of gauze-like material, along with some parts of his face. Although there were at least three layers of bandages on his arm, blood was starting to show through where the larger cuts were. Based on the spots of blood Yami could clearly see the outline of Yugi's arm, which was at least twice as thin as his own was.

"And my friends thought _I _was too skinny." He muttered to himself bitterly.

His eyes moved beyond the bandages so he could see the rest of Yugi. He suddenly felt like he wanted to cry. Through the thin sheets of the ICU room Yugi was in, he could see the outlines of all of his friend's ribs. Even from the distance that he was, he could count each of the younger's ribs; all twenty-four of them. Willing away the knot in his stomach, Yami quickly turned his gaze back to Yugi's face.

But Yami found that there was a knot in his stomach when he saw the rest of the other's face as well. It was so full of bruises that he was barely recognizable. His face was a mixture of yellows and purples, fading bruises and newly formed ones. Of the very few places that his actual skin showed through, it was very white; so pale in fact that it made Yugi look sick, almost dead. Just thinking about it made Yami shudder. The thought of losing Yugi like this…

Yami closed his eyes and turned away from the window, taking slow, deep breaths to calm his nerves so he wouldn't start to cry; though he wasn't quite sure why. Laura, Rosa, and Mokuba had all left a long time ago (although Mokuba protested greatly to his brother's orders) and he had never been afraid to show his emotions around Seto. Perhaps he felt that he had to be strong for Yugi. But that was foolish. No matter how much he didn't want to believe it, he knew that Yugi was unconscious and he wasn't likely to wake up any time soon. Whatever the reason, he just felt like he needed to hold back the tears.

After a few more minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. Seeing Yugi so weak, so fragile, wanted to make him break down inside. And knowing that he was indirectly responsible for what had happened to his younger friend made him feel violently sick.

"S-Seto?" he whispered. "I-I want to g-go now. Can y-you help m-me?"

Seto smiled slightly and nodded. He was expecting Yami to react more… loudly when he saw Yugi. But on the outside he took it surprisingly well. Of course, Seto knew that he was in immense pain on the inside, but that he had expected. He walked over to the chair his friend was sitting in and placed a hand on his shoulder in silent encouragement.

Yami stared at him for a moment before putting one of his arms over Seto's shoulders. In turn, Seto wrapped an arm around Yami's waist and pulled him up. They stood there for a moment so Yami could get his balance, and then slowly made their way back to his temporary room. Neither of them said a word until they got back to the room and Yami had been helped to get to bed. Seto was about to leave when Yami spoke up.

"I wanted to thank you, Seto." His voice was quiet and Seto could hear the raw emotions when his friend spoke. All of the pain, frustration, sadness and confusion came through in those six words. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me," he paused, almost seeming afraid to say more, "for Yugi. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"Actually, there is." Yami looked at him strangely; Seto never accepted anything from him, no matter how much he offered it. Then Seto walked back over to the bed and hugged him, startling him even more. "Just get better. You and Yugi both. That's all you have to do for me, and for Mokuba." He pulled out of the hug and stood next to the bed. "Nothing would make me happier than to see my best friend up and around again." Seto spoke quietly also, keeping a slightly lighter mood between the two of them.

Then Seto turned and left the room, locking the door from the inside before closing it. He knew that Yami slept better with a locked door. Being alone again, Yami was able to space out and go deep into thought without anyone worrying about him. And one thought ran through his mind: Seto had told him to get better.

"_Just get better. You and Yugi both."_ He had said. Seto's voice ran throughout his mind over and over again.

"You and Yugi both." He whispered. Before he knew it, that sliver of a smile was back on his face, and Yami almost found himself laughing. Not out loud, of course.

The fact that Seto had included Yugi in what he said, and had used his name, meant that he truly wanted Yugi to pull through. He wasn't just saying that to make Yami feel better. Although Seto wanting Yugi to live made him feel better anyway. Yami let the thought roll around in his head for a while longer before reaching over and turning off the light beside his bed, that sliver of a smile still on his face as he fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Seto had trouble explaining to his little brother Mokuba why he couldn't come with him to see Yami.

"Come on, Seto! You saw him yesterday! Yami is feeling _fine_. He was walking around and everything last time I saw him. There's no reason why I can't go." Mokuba looked up at his brother determinedly. Yami was like a second brother to him and if Seto could go then he should be able to also.

Seto sighed and knelt down on the floor in front of his younger brother so he could look at him from his level. "Under normal circumstances, I would be concerned if you _didn't_ want to go. However, right now there are no normal circumstances. And I'm not really going to visit Yami today anyway. I'm just going to help him get to Yugi's room in one piece so he can sit in front of the window for hours on end and not do anything but stare blankly through the glass."

Mokuba seemed to be contemplating this, much to Seto's relief, when he suddenly spoke up and asked, "Who's Yugi?"

Seto didn't answer for a while, not expecting his brother to not know whom Yugi was. "No one explained anything to you?" Mokuba shook his head in response. Seto sighed in defeat. "It looks like you'll have to come along after all."

Mokuba smiled and silently cheered. It had been so long since he had seen Yami. Not only that, but he had the opportunity to make another friend, Yugi. 'This is the best Christmas break _ever_.' He told himself as Seto took his hand to lead him down to the hospital located off the main house.

* * *

Yami had been sitting up in bed for almost half an hour when he heard the click of the door opening. It was accompanied by two voices; one he instantly recognized as Seto's, and the other was very familiar to him but he couldn't quite place whom it belonged to. The door opened slightly, just enough for Yami to hear the voices but not see who was on the other side of the door.

"Oh, I had no idea, Seto. I never knew why Yami was in the hospital, let alone why he was in _this_ one. And it sounds like Yugi went through a lot too. No wonder Yami seemed so out of it yesterday." The unrecognizable voice was speaking. Yami was getting very frustrated with the fact that he knew that voice, but _still_ couldn't figure out whose it was.

Then Seto spoke again. The fact that he knew it was Seto offered him some comfort, confirming that he hadn't completely lost it over the past few days. He listened closer so he could hear what Seto was saying more clearly. "…Exactly. That's why I said that you shouldn't come today. I don't know how Yami will react to things today, and I didn't want you to get mad at him for something he didn't do on purpose. And as I said before, I'm not staying very long and I don't want you to either. Yami needs some time to himself right now."

Yami didn't know how he should feel about what Seto said. Fortunately, he didn't have to confuse himself over it for long because as soon as Seto stopped talking the door opened all the way. His eyes widened slightly when he saw who accompanied Seto into the room. It was Mokuba. He had forgotten about _Mokuba_. He felt like he should apologize to him, but he didn't know that Yami had forgotten about him. And yet again, Yami had no time to think about the matter, because Mokuba ran to where he sat and launched himself at Yami. He hugged Yami around his waist tightly, causing him minor pain in the process.

"Yami! It's been such a long time since I've seen you! I'm so happy you're here! Well, not here as in the hospital, but you know what I mean, right?"

"Hello, Mokuba." Yami hugged the younger boy just as tight, despite how much it hurt him to do so. He wasn't really in a happy mood, but for Mokuba he'd make an exception. It wasn't long before the pain in his side became unbearable, however, and he had to look at Seto almost pleadingly to pry his brother off.

"Come on, Mokuba. I think it's time you went back upstairs."

He looked up at Yami sadly, and he couldn't help but feel responsible for the look in the kid's eyes. "I think you should do what your brother says, Mokuba." He brought his voice down to a whisper, as if to tell Mokuba something that should only be known between the two of them. "But you can come back and visit me later, okay?"

Mokuba instantly brightened. He nodded enthusiastically and smiled at Yami, then went running out of the room as if he had been told the greatest secret in the world. After the click that signaled the door being shut, there was complete silence. Neither teenager could think of anything to say. They were lost in their own thoughts for what seemed like forever until Seto found the silence almost maddening.

"Are you up to seeing Yugi today?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, right. Yea, I think I'm feeling all right." Yami was, in fact, thinking about Yugi and was going to ask Seto a similar question.

Repeating the procedure of last night, Seto walked over to the bed and put his arm around Yami's waist, being careful not to touch the wound on his side. Yami wrapped one of his arms around Seto's neck and put his feet on the floor. There was an exchange of a glance and then Seto pulled his friend to his feet. Yami stood on shaky legs, leaning heavily into Seto for support. He felt as if his legs would give out any moment. He couldn't understand it, but all of a sudden he felt dizzy and extremely weak. Without turning his head, he looked at Seto to see him standing there patiently, waiting for him to start walking.

Yami tentatively slid one of his feet forward and put some weight on it so he wouldn't fall backward. Then he picked up his other foot and started to step toward the door. He suddenly cried out in shock when his legs collapsed and he was sent falling to the floor. He held on to Seto tighter to stop himself from hitting the floor, but Seto wasn't prepared for it so all Yami succeeded in doing was dragging them both down.

They sat on the floor for a while, Yami trying to catch his breath and Seto waiting for him to calm down enough to talk. Seto examined the state of his friend closer, noticing how badly he was shaking and how hard he was breathing. He was a little worried about the sudden change in condition in his friend. Yami was fine yesterday so theoretically he should be better today, not worse. And even if he wasn't any better than yesterday, he should by no means have gone through such regression.

"Yami, what happened? You were much better yesterday." When he spoke to Yami he noticed that he had calmed down a little but was still shaking.

"I-I don't… don't know." His voice was unsteady, just like the rest of him. "I-I'm not feeling… so good…. Like… like I'm sick… or… something…" Yami's voice had faded out completely by the time he finished his sentence.

Seto frowned sat this. He didn't like not knowing what was going on. How was he supposed to help Yami if not even _Yami_ knew what was wrong with himself? The only information he had gotten was that Yami felt like he was sick. That could easily be taken care of with rest and something warm to eat but-

"SHIT!" Seto cursed loudly, earning a semi-confused stare from Yami. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

Yami was obviously still dazed because it took him a full four minutes to answer. "Oh, I'm not… sure…" his voice faded out again. "Christmas…" he mumbled. "Think so…"

"Christmas! That was eight fucking days ago! Why didn't you say something?"

"Never thought… food… Yugi was… more important…"

"I understand that, but how could you have not noticed you were hungry for a full three days?"

Yami just shrugged.

Seto sighed in a manner that was halfway between anger and exasperation. Then he put one arm under Yami's knees, the other around his shoulders and stood up. Though he was lighter than he usually was (and was thinner than Seto to begin with) he was still a little heavier than Seto was used to, which caused him to almost lose his balance and fall backward into a chair. Seto forced himself to move forward and laid Yami back on his bed.

"I'm going to get you something to eat. Anything you want in particular?" Yami shook his head 'no'. "All right then. Try not to fall asleep by the time I get back, okay?"

Seto hadn't moved half a foot when he felt a hand grip the back of his coat. He turned around to face Yami, knowing it was his hand that was keeping him from leaving the room. He inched back toward the bed and almost immediately felt Yami throw his arms around his waist and push his face into his shirt.

Seto was taken aback by Yami's actions at first, but soon realized what it meant. Yami didn't want him to leave. Although he would never admit it, he was _afraid _of Seto leaving. Seto knew of his friend's other experiences in the hospital, and he couldn't blame him for the way he reacted. Yami had probably been afraid the whole time he was awake, wondering if Seto would come back every time he left. But he was only showing it now because he felt so much weaker, so much more vulnerable.

Seto felt bad for Yami. Every time that he had been in the hospital, no one was there. No one ever came to visit him. He would just sit in bed and stare at the door, waiting, hoping for the day when someone would walk in and take him home. But Seto knew that for Yami that day never came. As Seto thought of these things, he put a hand on the back of Yami's head. He got no response save for Yami closing his eyes and slightly relaxing his grip on Seto's waist.

A few moments went by in silence, and then Seto laced his fingers into Yami's hair and started to run his fingers over his friend's scalp soothingly. Yami drew himself closer to Seto. Closer to his comforting hand, his soothing warmth. He knew that Seto knew how he was feeling. Because of that, the doubt in his mind was slowly ebbing and he convinced himself all the more that Seto wouldn't leave him alone.

Seto lifted Yami's head up off his torso with his hand and turned Yami's face so he could see him better. The look on his friend's face made him feel so guilty about what he knew he had to tell him. No matter how much he didn't want to leave Yami alone, he knew that he had to. He didn't want to be the one responsible for Yami passing out due to lack of food. For a long time Seto was torn over what he wanted to do and what he had to.

Although the thoughts were raging around his head, one part of his mind was still calm enough to give Seto the sense to do what was right. He cupped Yami's cheeks in his hands and pulled his face back so he was looking directly into his eyes. All the hidden emotions… Emotions that Seto knew Yami would dare only let him see. The way Yami was looking at him made him feel as if he were about to do the most horrible thing the mind could think of.

Seto knew that if he stayed much longer that the look in Yami's eyes would start to get to him and he would give up, rather than leaving to help Yami like he should. With that in mind, he slowly moved back a few inches, keeping a firm hold on his friend's face so he wouldn't reach out to stop him like he did before.

When Yami noticed Seto moving away he tried to follow him, but Seto effectively held his head in place. He grew more worried every moment as Seto moved farther away until he was at arm's length. Now Seto couldn't back up any more without letting go of the grip he had on his head.

Would Seto really let go? Would he walk out the door and never come back? These questions occupied every corner of Yami's mind. He didn't even notice Seto drop his hands and walk to the door until the doorknob clicked back into place. And by then Seto was gone.

Yami stared disbelievingly at the door. Seto had left. He was alone again. Everything was exactly as it used to be. Yami continued to stare at the door, wishing more than anything that Seto would come back and tell Yami that he was sorry and that everything was going to be all right.

Then his eyes grew wide as everything suddenly started to move. The soft blue color of the walls began to melt away, revealing the harsh white paint of a conventional hospital. The dresser and night table were also melting and falling in chunks to the floor.

The room started to spin faster, the colors shifting and the melting objects twisting into spirals. Yami quickly became dizzy, and so he closed his eyes tight, willing everything back the way it should be. Even with his eyes closed he still knew the room was changing. It was as if he felt it down to his very soul. Yami's eyes were closed for a long time (or maybe it was a short time, since Yami had somehow lost the ability to count time when the room changed) when everything suddenly stopped. Yami's eyes flew open and his head jerked forward, but other than that he found he couldn't move.

A feeling of familiarity washed over him. He felt as if he had been here before. He scanned the room, every inch his eyes took in becoming more and more familiar. He remembered this place now. Or rather, this time. The exact same thing happened when he was twelve. The same room, the same emotions, the same pain. But there was something new this time; some sort of feeling of dread. He knew what was going to happen next. Things that he had long since forgotten came to mind in the exact sequence that they had happened six years ago.

This was a scary new outlook of things. Yami's mind had never relived any part of his past before, so why now? What was even weirder was the fact that even though somewhere in his mind he _knew_ he was eighteen and he _knew_ he was in Seto's hospital, he still had that same scared, overwhelmed feeling he had had when he was twelve. It was like he knew what was going to happen but at the same time he was experiencing this for the first time.

Yami didn't fully understand this occurrence. He thought of it as a dream even though he knew that a dream could not possibly do this. He tried to keep his mind focused. He fought to remember the things that would happen next. In a few minutes the nurse would come in, talk to him, leave, and come back about half an hour later with some food. When she tried to get him to eat he would just try to fall asleep so the nurse would shake him awake, causing him pain.

As soon as the last thought left his head, the nurse walked in. 'Right on time.' Yami thought bitterly.

"Oh, good. You're finally awake. The other nurses and I were beginning to wonder if you'd ever get up again."

He tried to speak, but as expected nothing came out. He was still trying to get used to the idea that he knew what he was going to do before he did it. He could change his actions if he wanted to, but he didn't try to. Who knows what could happen in the future if something happened here that wasn't supposed to? Yami doubted that he would change anything, even if what originally happened was hurtful to him.

The nurse continued talking. "Is everything okay, sweetie?" she was obviously referring to the fact that he hadn't spoken to her yet. "Are you getting sick?" she reached forward to feel his forehead. "You do feel a little warm."

Yami continued to stare at her. For some odd reason he found it amusing that she cared so much. He wondered what was going through her head.

"Maybe I should get a doctor." She started pacing around the room. "No, wait. I was supposed to do that anyway." Her movements ceased for a moment as she stared at him. "I know. You must be hungry. I'll get you something to eat."

And with that the nurse was gone. She would be back in half an hour. Yami looked around the room again, seeing as how that was pretty much all he could do. The nurse had said that he was finally awake, meaning he had been unconscious for a while. And yet, as he glanced over to the dresser there was nothing there. No flowers, or cards, or a "get well soon" balloon; nothing to show that anyone had come to visit him.

Yami had known that fact the whole time. He just hadn't realized it until now. No one wanted to see him, not even his own family. He knew that for the duration of his stay at the hospital the only people walking through that door would be doctors and that nurse.

Before he knew it, the half hour had gone by and she came back with a plate of food balanced on her arm. She caught him looking at the empty dresser. She sighed and placed the food on the bedside table before looking Yami straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but no one came for you yet."

The way she said it made Yami think that she knew that he had already found that out and was just saying it to have something to say. He turned his gaze away from her and made no move to show that he would speak. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her, even if he could.

She sighed again and said, "Come on, sweetie. You have to eat something. It'll make you feel better." She held out what resembled a biscuit to his face.

He completely ignored her, closing his eyes as if he didn't care. And he didn't. He suddenly felt tired for some reason. Maybe this strange flashback was taking a toll on his mind. Whatever it was, he just wanted to sleep it off.

But the nurse would have none of that. She apparently thought food was more important than sleep, even though it was plainly evident that he was tired. She tapped his shoulder to get his attention. When that didn't work, she grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him. (A/N: Okay, so if a nurse _really_ did that he or she would get fired. Just go along with it.) Yami's eyes immediately shot open in response, his body not ready to be moved yet.

However, he didn't see the nurse shaking him. Instead, the room was melting again. The white walls faded and started to get darker. Everything in the room, including the nurse, started to run like a watercolor painting. Yami closed his eyes in anticipation of what was to occur. The room started to spin as he expected. And like the last time, he could feel it in his soul.

The idea suddenly came into Yami's mind of where he was going. Maybe it was some kind of pattern. Since the first 'trip' had taken him back six years to when he was twelve then maybe he would go back six years again, this time to where he was six. That thought frightened Yami.

He didn't want to relive what had happened when he was younger. He had promised himself a long time ago that he would never think of that day again. The worst day of his life.

He felt as if he was going to shudder but something held him back. It was almost as if some force had him in its grip so that he couldn't do anything. He was powerless against the force that bound him, and he couldn't stop it from throwing him deeper and deeper into his memories. Yami tried to free himself as he felt the spinning slow and the colors changing and becoming hot like fire. The fire burned through to his mind, making it harder for him to think. If he lost control of his thoughts then there was no stopping whatever it was that held him from making him live that day a second time.

Seconds passed and Yami felt himself get closer and closer to his past. Now he could feel the fire flicking against his skin, the intense heat that emanated from them. Then there was the corrosive smell of burning wood and plastic that tried to suffocate him. He felt the sickness rising from his stomach, the bitter-tasting bile already trying to make its way up his throat.

He felt the grip the force had on him lessen, and he knew he was close. Soon he would be able to open his eyes, only to find all he could see was reddish-orange and black. And for all he knew he would be stuck in the past, having to relive every one of the horrific details that together made up his life. With that possibility lingering in his mind, Yami fought harder to break free. If he could get away on his own then maybe he had a chance. Maybe he would have a chance to escape this strange flashback and get back to Seto and Mokuba and Yugi.

'Yugi…' Thinking of Yugi just made Yami want to go back even more. Yugi needed him. He couldn't give up until he was once again sitting in the blue-colored room of Seto's hospital.

The grip of the force suddenly weakened considerably so that Yami could barely feel it there. Sound came to his ears; the sound of people calling to him, then their screams, and then nothing again. Yami recognized what had just happened. He fought against the last few strands of the force's hold. Seconds seemed to pass like hours and then suddenly he felt himself completely released from the grasp of the force.

As soon as the presence of the force disappeared, he found his voice and screamed. He did everything he could to keep his mind off his surroundings. It wasn't long after that he heard someone else's voice. Someone was calling out to him, and he sounded familiar. He was calling Yami's name, urging him to wake up.

Wake up? Wasn't he already awake? How else could he be experiencing such realistic visions? And then it hit him. He hadn't really been going back in time. He hadn't even moved throughout the entire 'flashback'. It had all happened in his mind. He was still sitting in Seto's hospital, and Seto was the one calling out to him.

He opened his eyes. There was no fire as he expected there'd be. Instead he was looking directly into a pair of dark, ocean-blue eyes. He kept staring at Seto as he felt a hand being placed on each shoulder. The hands moved to his back and before he knew it Seto was embracing him tightly. It was only then that he fully realized what had happened.

When the nurse had walked in with the food and then shook him, it was actually Seto. The force that tried to bring him further back into his memories was Seto. Although Yami didn't think that Seto could ever try to hurt him, so he must have fallen asleep at some point and Seto was just trying to wake him up. And when he broke free of the force, he had in reality backed himself out of Seto's arms. Everything that had happened was what _Seto_ was doing. His mind was so wiped out that it had twisted everything that was going on into a vivid, horrid nightmare.

Yami wrapped his arms around Seto's waist and rested the side of his forehead on his friend's collarbone. He began to shake slightly, though he didn't know if it was from what he had just gone through or from the cold. It suddenly felt cold in the room even though Seto's body was warm. It seemed to be that the more he sought the warmth of the other the colder the air around him got.

The fact that he was sick had completely left Yami's mind at the beginning of his nightmarish experience. But it came back full circle when he sneezed. He sneezed with such force that his head bounced against Seto's chest and he found it nearly impossible to breathe through his nose afterward. He glanced up at Seto. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was worried about Yami.

He was still looking up at his friend when suddenly he coughed. The cough came from the very bottom of his chest, sending a burning sensation through his throat. He coughed again and again and soon he found he couldn't stop. He felt a sickness building up in his stomach. It rose every time he coughed, and it kept rising until he couldn't take it anymore. He pushed himself away from Seto, leaned over the side of the bed, and vomited onto the floor.

Seto started to rub his friend's back gently, hoping to calm him down a little. He immediately pulled his hand back when Yami threw up again. At this point Seto was getting overly worried and stressed out about the situation. He cast his gaze back toward Yami, who was lying on his back, shivering and coughing again. He was completely physically drained, and Seto didn't doubt that it was the same for him mentally as well. He knew the best thing for his friend to do was rest. The better option was to have Yami eat something but Seto didn't think that he would be able to stomach anything right now.

He also didn't think that Yami would want to sleep in the hospital again. He had never wanted to be in there in the first place. So Seto got off the bed, stood in front of Yami, and sat him up so he was leaning against his chest. Yami responded by putting his arms around his friend's shoulders. Seto then put one of his arms around Yami's shoulders and the other under his knees. He gently lifted his friend off the bed and carried him over to the door. Neither of them spoke as they exited the room. Seto reached behind him to close the door to the room forever, never looking back on it. He walked away from the hospital room and way from the hospital itself, hoping that things could be better tomorrow.

* * *

Yami: That was the crappiest ending I have ever read to a chapter. And I've been through a lot of crappy chapter endings.

Soulless: Okay, so the ending was somewhat retarded, but I couldn't think of another way to put it. So on that note I've decided that you can kill me for it if you want.

Yami: And we all want to.

Soulless: Not you, them. I already know you've wanted to kill me ever since before the story started.

Yami: Whatever.

Soulless: So… what happened to Seto and Mokuba?

Yami: Mokuba had to go to school today so Seto drove him.

Soulless: But it's 10:00 in the morning. Why does it take so long to drop Mokuba off at school?

Yami: He was running late this morning. But at least he even went, unlike _someone _I know…

Soulless: Fuck off. It's not like I actually have to go to school, you know.

Seto: So, what did I miss? –Sees Soulless and Yami trying to gouge each other's eyes out with sporks- Never mind… Anyway, we have guests!

Soulless: Really! Who would want to come here?

Seto: Well, they didn't exactly come by free will…

Soulless: And by that you mean…

Seto: Umm, I saw Marik walking down the street pulling Bakura along in a wagon and-

Soulless: Oh my god! He's still in there! Go Ryou!

Seto: Anyway… I told Marik that he could come to the studio for a while if he wanted to. He said no, so I knocked him out and locked him in my trunk. He's probably still in there, along with Bakura.

Yami: Dude, awesome! I never thought you had it in you!

Soulless: -Speaking sophisticatedly- Shall we go to the parking lot and have a very long point-and-laugh session?

Yami: -same voice- Oh, yes, let's.

Seto: -sweatdrop- You guys are weird…

All: -head over to parking lot to do the point-and-laugh session-

Weird Announcer Dude #2 (WAD #2): What kind of insanity will ensue at the point-and-laugh session? Will there even be one before Soulless gets sidetracked?

Soulless: Hey! I resent that!

WAD #2: And what about Bakura and Marik? Are they still in the trunk of Seto's car? Read the end of the next chapter to find out!

Yea. So it wasn't really funny this time. I'll do better next chapter. There will be FIRE and burning things! And so this chapter took a long time to get posted. Do you want me to apologize for it? I'm not that kind of person. And besides, it's all my friend's fault. She wants to make sure that I don't completely screw up the plot of her story. So before I post _anything_ I have to e-mail it to her and she tells me what I have to change. The only problem is that her computer is being a retarded bastard again and she no longer has the Internet. I mean, her computer is _no longer compatible_ with the Internet. So she found out that the phone modem in her computer broke and her dad went and bought a new one to install. But her computer rejected the new modem.

So I called her up one night and I was so pissed off that I started yelling obscene things into the phone, and her mom picked up the phone because she didn't think my friend was using it. Long story short, I'm not allowed to call her house anymore. So she has no Internet and no phone. How the hell am I supposed to get this posted if she can't tell me what I screwed up on!

So that's what happened. A few days ago she secretly called me and told me that her parents were getting DSL (finally!). The only thing is that it's getting installed the week she's on vacation in Florida. So this chapter still won't be posted until after New Year's. Pretty sucky, huh? _12-09-05_

Oh, and I almost forgot. Thank you to Jade for the most recent review for chapter three. I had already finished chapter four when you reviewed and didn't have room to put your review up on top there. So thanks again. _01-26-06_

This chapter was posted on: _01-27-06_


	5. St Valentine's

Chapter 5: St. Valentine's

Disclaimer: See chapter three

So, how have you all been doing? I bet you've been dying to read this. You know why? Because this is chapter five! I have finally done it! I never thought I would get this far (and neither did any of my friends). Okay, since I'm writing the author notes here before I post chapter four, no one had a chance to review yet so the thanking of the people will be at the end of the chapter.

The only problem is that at this time I have no idea how to start this chapter, where it's supposed to go, or what to call it (after I finish the chapter I'll know hopefully). Oh well, here goes…

* * *

It had been three weeks since Yami had woken up. Yugi had now been in the hospital for three weeks and five days. And yet still he lay there, no better than the day he entered the hospital. He still couldn't breathe on his own, and he hadn't awoken yet. Yami knew that better then anyone. He had stayed in Yugi's room every night for the past nine days, not including last night. He hadn't slept at all while he was in Yugi's room, which had made him sick again.

Seto had kept him in bed all day yesterday, and if he had to do it again today he thought he would go insane. So that's why, at three o'clock in the morning, he was getting dressed and heading toward the hospital located off the main house. He stopped by Seto's room to make sure the door was closed all the way. Yami had every intention of making himself a cup of coffee, which would wake Seto up and have him fully dressed and in the kitchen in less than thirty seconds.

Yami was grateful that Seto was a millionaire, because that meant no squeaky doors and no creaky stairs. He was successfully able to get downstairs and into the kitchen without waking anybody up. As he was waiting for the coffee to finish his stomach growled lightly. He sighed and walked over to the refrigerator. He was looking for some kind of breakfast thing that was supposed to be eaten cold so he wouldn't have to use the microwave or stove and risk anybody waking up.

"Eggs… no, I can't use the stove. Apple… not in the mood to chew. Biscuits… cold biscuits? I think not. Oatmeal… who the hell puts oatmeal in the fridge?" Yami sighed. There was nothing he could eat, which surprised him considering he was in Seto's kitchen. As he was closing the door he saw something on a plate with a yellow sticky note on top of it. On it was written 'MOKUBA DO NOT TOUCH' in Seto's handwriting.

Well, he wasn't Mokuba, so there was no reason why he shouldn't be able to see what was on the plate. And everybody knows that if something has a sign that says 'Do Not Touch' on it, somebody's going to touch it. With that in mind, Yami took the food out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. When he took the plastic wrap off it turned out it was pizza. Yami was glad it was pizza. He remembered hating cold pizza at one point but he had grown accustomed to it over the years.

He grabbed the plate from off the counter and took the mug of coffee from off the coffeepot. Now all he had to do was go outside around to the back of the house and walk about one to two hundred feet to Seto's self-owned hospital. He opened the side door as silently as he could and slipped outside into the cold January air. He shivered and coughed a little. Maybe he should have brought a jacket. Or at least worn long sleeves.

Yami's feet crunched in the snow as he walked along. It was like clockwork. Turn left here, go right there, walk for another forty steps before turning again. Yami had taken this trip so many times over the past two weeks that his feet took him to Yugi without him having to think about it. He got lost in his thoughts as he got closer to the hospital and to Yugi. The door was upon him so suddenly that he hit his head against it and spilled some of his coffee onto the ground. He cursed loudly before balancing the plate of cold pizza on top of his coffee mug and opening the cold metal door separating him from his friend.

The hospital was basically shaped like a 'T' with the doors on each side of the shorter hallway. Yugi's room was on the longer hallway, near the end where there was a window. The room Yami had stayed in was directly in front of him. He quickly turned the corner, not wanting anything to do with that room ever again. He truly hated being in the hospital. Some of the worst days of his life were spent in there. He was forcing himself to come even now. If it wasn't for Yugi, Yami would stay as far away from this place as possible.

Seeing Yugi had calmed his nerves every time he walked by his room. Knowing that Yugi was close by made him feel at ease. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason having his younger friend around always seemed to make him feel better about being in a hospital. He sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the window of Yugi's room. There were always two chairs there, and they were always in the exact same spot, along with the table in between them. Yami set his breakfast on said table, took a deep breath, and turned to look at Yugi.

What he saw really didn't surprise him, but he still didn't like it. Nothing had changed. Yugi was the same as he had been over two weeks ago when Yami first saw him. He couldn't breathe on his own, he hadn't gained any weight, and he still hadn't woken up. That was what troubled Yami the most. He kept thinking of the worst possible things that could happen. And even though he was pretty sure Yugi would eventually get better, those thoughts scared him.

Yami continued to look through the window, sipping his coffee and picking at his pizza every now and then. He didn't know what time it was, nor did he care until he heard one of the outside doors open. He quickly turned his head over to the opposite side of the hallway. Seto had probably found his room empty and come looking for him. And of course Seto would know exactly where to look. Yami cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have stayed this long. He was about to get up and find somewhere to hide when, to his relief, Laura turned the corner.

She seemed surprised to see him. "I thought I was the only one up at five o'clock in the morning."

So he had been here for almost two hours. "No, I got up at three. I wanted to make sure Seto didn't see me coming over here this morning. He wouldn't let me out of bed yesterday and I think he wants it to stay that way today also."

"I had heard from him that you were sick. And you do sound a little congested. I wouldn't blame him for not letting you out of bed today."

"I know. And I probably should have stayed there too. But I just had to visit Yugi. Not being able to see him for one day is hard enough."

Laura smiled softly at that. "I understand that Yugi is your friend and you care about him very much, but did you ever think that by seeing him every day you're hurting him more than helping him?"

"I don't think I get what you're saying."

"Think about it, honey. You aren't feeling well today and Yugi is practically under quarantine. If you're sick when you visit him, then he could get sick as well. That will affect how fast he recovers."

"I never thought about it like that. But I haven't been in Yugi's room today."

"That's good. Just make sure that you visit him from this side of the door until you feel better."

Yami nodded and motioned for Laura to sit down. "There's more than one chair for a reason." he stated simply.

The two sat there in a comfortable silence, each enjoying the company the other gave. Yami shifted his attention back to Yugi. He gazed absent-mindedly through the window for a while when Laura stood up suddenly.

"It's five thirty." she said. "I doubt that the famous Seto Kaiba would still be asleep."

"You won't tell Seto I'm here if you see him, will you?"

"As far as I know, I haven't seen you since yesterday."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Yami's face. "Thanks."

He watched her walk off, confident that he could rely on her not to tell Seto he was here. He wasn't going to stay for much longer though, because he knew Seto would start to worry soon. He sighed exasperatedly. He was grateful that Seto was such a good friend, but sometimes he wished Seto would let him take care of himself. But Seto wasn't the only person that he didn't want knowing he was seeing Yugi. The doctors would be coming in soon to check on Yugi and he doubted they wouldn't tell Seto he was in the hospital.

He turned back toward Yugi, who was still lying lifelessly in the overly white room. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I couldn't stay very long today, but I'll try to come back later to make up for it. Just in case I can't come, I'll see you tomorrow."

Yami placed a hand on the thick piece of glass that served as a window and hung his head. He stared at the ground even though he wasn't sure why he was doing it. He picked his head up and started to walk away. When he was halfway down the hallway he thought he heard a noise of some sort come from behind him. He stopped mid-step and listened. For a moment everything was deathly quiet and then he heard the noise again. It was a beeping sound, a strong, constant sound that he knew he hadn't been able to hear before. He glanced back at Yugi's room. Maybe the sound was coming from in there.

The closer he got to Yugi's room the louder the noise got. Yami grew more curious with each step. He wanted to believe that something good was happening but he knew better than to get his hopes up. When he finally approached the room again, he was surprised to find that something good _was_ happening. The beeping was coming from the heart monitor, meaning that Yugi's heart was getting stronger every minute. Yami looked into the room at Yugi, expecting some kind of miraculous thing to happen. And it did. A few moments later Yugi shifted his head slightly and his eyes started to open.

For the first time in weeks Yami was able to see Yugi's eyes, the dull plum color the same as he remembered it to be. He didn't pay attention to the pain in Yugi's eyes, or to the fact that he was staring directly at Yami. He was so excited that he ran right out of the hospital without a second thought. He continued running through the fresh layer of snow that had fallen the day before and into the kitchen of he main house. He didn't care if Seto was angry with him for not being in bed. He just wanted to show him that Yugi was finally awake.

After looking through most of the first floor Yami realized that if Seto was anywhere it was either in his room working or in Yami's room wondering where he was. He decided to look in Seto's room first and in not seeing him there went to his own room. Seto was sitting at the desk working on his computer. He seemed to be completely engrossed in his work but noticed Yami enter anyway. For a while he didn't say anything then all of a sudden he shut his lap top and swung the chair to face Yami.

"Where were you?"

Yami shifted uncomfortably. Three harshly spoken words from Seto was all it took to put him on edge. "I was… out?"

Seto could tell that he was making Yami nervous, which was never his intention. He simply wanted to know where his friend had been. Although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. "How early did you get up to see him?"

"About thr-" Yami paused. "How did you know I went to see Yugi?"

"Where else could you have gone that would give you the incentive to get up earlier than I do?"

"Good point. But anyway, listen- that's not why I wanted to talk to you. It's about Yugi; he-"

"Yami, we've been through this before. The doctors say that there's very little chance of his condition improving. I know that you don't want to believe that, but you're just making it harder on yourself by not doing so."

"But that's just it, Seto. Yugi's condition _has_ improved! He woke up!"

Seto was stunned. He had absolutely no idea what to say or do. All he could bring himself to do was sit there, staring at his friend with wide eyes. It was only when Yami grabbed his hand and practically dragged him downstairs did he know how to react. He pulled his hand free of Yami's grip and followed him through the kitchen door to the porch outside. Before he knew it his friend was off and running through the snow again, already nearly halfway there by the time Seto caught sight of him.

Even though Seto was usually faster than his friend was, he found he couldn't catch up no matter how hard he tried to. He scanned the yard again to find Yami and saw him already at the door to enter the hospital. Seto didn't think Yami would wait for him, but for some odd reason he was just standing in front of the door. Then he remembered the security locks. The doors to the hospital automatically locked themselves at five-forty-five every morning when there was someone in there so that no one could visit before or after visiting hours. Only permanent residents of his estate, meaning himself and Mokuba, and the doctors had the access code to unlock the doors.

Seto slowed his pace a little as he approached the door. Yami was standing there, shivering and looking as annoyed as ever. Seto found it amusing how even the smallest things could get under his friend's skin these days. He typed the access code onto a keypad built into the door and there was a loud clicking sound signaling that the door had unlocked. The irritation immediately vanished from Yami's features and he pushed the door open to begin the short walk to Yugi's hospital room. He knew Seto wasn't far behind because there was a rhythm of footsteps slightly off from his own echoing throughout the otherwise silent hallway.

Yami came to a halt in front of the window that allowed him to look into Yugi's room. What he saw was heart wrenching and it made his stomach drop. Yugi was still awake, but his eyes were empty. They were devoid of all emotion except for immense pain. Yugi's head was turned toward the window but he seemed to be looking, not at Yami, but at the wall beneath the window. There was a forlorn look in his eyes, as if he was trying to grasp something he no longer could. He was crying and he opened and closed his mouth in a vain attempt to speak. He was trying to tell Yami something; but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Then a picture suddenly flashed on his mind's eye, leaving as quickly as it came. Yami had been in the same situation before. He had had the same look in his eyes, had felt the same pain. His eyes filled with tears. Now he knew what Yugi was trying to say.

"H-he's broken…"

Seto's head snapped up to where Yami stood. He had been intently studying Yugi the whole time so he could give the doctor an accurate account of what was happening. But when he heard what Yami had said his attention was no longer on a doctor's report. He didn't fully understand what Yami meant by that.

"Yami?" one word was all he needed to ask of his friend to have the questions in his mind answered.

"Look at his eyes, Seto." He replied simply.

Seto did as he was told and turned his head back toward the window. He saw such a great sadness in Yugi's eyes, the likes of which he had never seen in another human being. There was also a pain that seemed to increase with every breath the younger boy took. It saddened him a great deal to see someone so young in so much pain. But he still had some questions.

"I still don't understand, Yami. What do you mean when you say he's broken?"

"I mean exactly that. Yugi is broken. He doesn't want to live anymore…" Yami's voice faded out and a single tear fell from his eyes.

Seto was at a loss for words. There was no way he could have any idea of how Yami was feeling right now. He didn't know how to comfort him. Something told him that the average 'Everything will be fine' speech wasn't going to do any good this time. He was going to at least attempt to console his friend when Yami suddenly fell to his knees. Seto sat on the floor next to him and rubbed circles on his back soothingly as his friend started to talk.

"W-what am I-I going to do? I-I don't want to-o lose him… But I can't sto-op him from dying if he wants it… I d-don't want to cause him any more pain…"

Seto could only continue to comfort Yami in the same way he had been doing. He was shocked, to say the least. He had never seen Yami completely break down the way he was now. While Seto _had_ seen him cry before, it was always because he was in pain or because he was just sad. And that was years ago, before they had been separated. He never knew Yami to cry over someone else.

'Yugi must mean more to him than I first thought.' Seto said to himself. 'But why? Why is Yugi so different than others? Why does Yami feel especially connected to this kid?'

Yami started to cry harder, tears falling constantly rather than every now and then. Seto tried to comfort Yami further, to let Yami hold onto him, but he refused to let Seto touch him. He sighed and stood up to give his friend some space. He was obviously traumatized by the fact that for over three weeks he waited for Yugi to get up and now that he had, it had finally sunk in that Yugi was going to die.

Seto's eyes softened considerably at his friend's troubles. He wanted nothing more than to hold Yami and tell him it would be okay. He was his other little brother, after all. But Yami hadn't let Seto touch him the first time and he knew that if he tried again Yami would get angry with him. But he couldn't just leave either. That would be the worst thing he could do right now.

He knew that Yami had never been a completely stable person, so he knew how to react to things when he was around him. Yami's emotions were very fragile; thus, the teen was always on edge. But now the situation was worse, and Seto knew that he had to eventually do _something_. But what could he possibly do? He stood there awkwardly for a few moments, his eyes going back and forth between Yami and Yugi. Then he immediately turned his attention to Yami when he heard a bang.

Yami's hand was resting on the wall, almost halfway embedded in it. He was breathing heavily, shaking, and still crying. But other than his breathing, Yami was completely silent. And then it had been enough. Yami had finally had enough, and he snapped.

"Don't you dare…" his voice started as a whisper with an unusually dangerous tone. "Don't you dare! You're not going to give up; you're not going to fucking die on me! I won't let you! You've come too fucking far to just give up and fucking die! Don't you understand! Don't you know how much I fucking care about you! You may think its bullshit, but it's not; I swear to you it's not! You have no reason to give up! So please, please don't let go! Not yet…"

By the time Yami had finished his outburst he had fully collapsed onto the floor and there was a small puddle on the floor where his tears had fallen. Yami was no longer only crying; he was sobbing loudly with his arms wrapped around himself. Seto felt utterly horrible about what his friend was going through. He knelt on the floor beside him and touched the side of his face lightly. Yami's eyes snapped open and he looked at Seto almost fearfully.

Seto smiled softly at Yami. He began to stroke the other's face in order to give him as much of the needed support as he could. Yami closed his eyes for a moment before pulling himself up off the floor and into a sitting position. And then without warning he threw his arms around Seto's shoulders and buried his face into his chest. He continued to cry into Seto's shirt for what seemed to be a long time before Seto shifted and caused the both of them to stand up. Yami moved his hands so that he was gripping the front of Seto's shirt and Seto wrapped his arms around Yami's waist to keep him from falling to the floor.

The two stood for a while before Yami spoke again. This time his voice was low and hoarse from crying. "Please don't leave me Yugi. You mean so much to me…" It was almost as if Yami had uttered those words in his sleep, for his eyes didn't open the whole time he was talking.

Seto held on to Yami tighter and slowly started guiding him toward the door. It was nearly noon by now, and Yami had had enough trauma for one day. He just hoped that Yugi would still be alive tomorrow. He would hate to see what it would do to Yami when he found out. Not only that, but he never had the chance to properly meet Yugi, and neither had Mokuba. Seto sighed. Sometimes things were just meant to be hard…

* * *

Seto stood in the hallway of the hospital, looking into Yugi's room but not really seeing anything that was inside. He had come here to think about an hour ago, knowing it would be completely quiet. He carefully leaned on the glass window behind him and ran through the day's events for what had to have been the fourth time that hour.

As soon as Yami had gotten back to his room he had flung himself off of Seto and locked the door. He had refused to come out all day, not even for lunch or dinner. Seto had tried to get him to open the door but it was obvious Yami didn't want to talk to anyone. He had heard him crying through the door and wanted nothing more than for Yami to open up to him. He felt so useless; he couldn't even help his friend when he needed it more than anything.

Seto had sat in the hallway in front of Yami's door for three long hours listening to him cry. Finally he had had enough. He came to the hospital to think of things he could do to help Yugi, and in effect, Yami. So far nothing had come to him. That feeling of uselessness came back, stronger than it had been before. Seto sighed loudly. Turning around to face the window, he refocused his eyes so he could see what was inside the room.

Yugi looked the same; he was lying completely still in between the hospital sheets. The only difference was that he wasn't awake anymore. Seto wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or passed out again, but at this point that didn't matter. Seto was just relieved that Yugi was getting rest; he needed it if he was going to survive. That brought another thought into Seto's mind. What had happened to Yugi to put him in critical condition for almost four weeks? It was almost surreal; things like this almost never happened in real life. This was usually the kind of thing you saw in a Soap Opera where the main character was hurt so badly that the doctors gave her a few days to live, but then she just miraculously came back to life. Not that he knew what happened in a Soap Opera…

This was a little different anyway. There was no guarantee that Yugi would actually live for another day or two. The question at hand suddenly popped back into Seto's mind. He was amazed at how easily his mind wandered. He had asked Yami what had happened to Yugi a couple of weeks ago, but now he knew never to ask that again. He remembered the look on Yami's face and a chill went down his spine. As soon as the question left his mouth Yami turned to him and just stared at him. His eyes were clouded over so that they looked almost gray, and there was a hollowness to them that made Seto feel as if he were staring into a dead person's eyes. His face went pale and Seto thought that for a moment Yami couldn't breathe. Then he suddenly stood up and started to walk away.

He stopped when he was directly next to Seto and had whispered, "That is not something you need to know." Yami's voice was so strange it was almost otherworldly and didn't sound like him at all. Then he had continued walking down the hallway as if nothing was wrong at all.

Seto knew that he should never ask Yami a question like that again; and he never did. Thinking about it made Seto cold and goosebumps ran down his arms like a plague. Looking at Yugi one more time, Seto decided that he had done enough thinking for one day. He turned and walked away from the window with thoughts still swirling around in his head. He still wanted to know why Yugi was in the hospital. Maybe if he found that out he would understand why Yami got so worked up over him. He had been sobbing on the floor and shaking like someone who was mentally unstable. Seto had never seen him do that. Yami had_ never_ cried over someone else; not even over his own family.

As Seto thought these things, he suddenly came upon the door that led outside. He opened the door, only to be hit with the nearly unbearable, frosty air of the month of January. He found the cold to be a release and slowly let his troubles sink into the snow. He didn't want his worries being carried into the house. There was enough grief in there without him having to add anything. He sighed sadly and continued walking toward his home, hoping more than anything that the blanket of grief would be dispelled from there soon.

* * *

It was two days later, and Yami had stopped crying. After the initial shock of the situation, he came to realize that crying wouldn't stop Yugi from dying. The only thing he could do was hope that Yugi had changed his mind and decided to live. He highly doubted it, but hope was all he had left. If Yugi died, there would be a gap in his life. Yugi was the only person that had gotten so severely hurt because of him. Well, it wasn't really his fault, but part of the reason his father had hurt him was because Yugi had made friends with Yami. If it wasn't for that then who knows how much better condition Yugi could be in. Yami doubted that too, but thinking that way made him feel better. Deep down he knew that he really had nothing to do with what Yugi's father had done to him, but something was preventing him from fully realizing that.

He sighed and pulled the covers away from his body. Then he swung his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself to stand up on the floor. He was going to visit Yugi today. No matter how much it hurt him to see Yugi in such bad condition, he was going to keep him company today. He stretched his limbs, walked into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and turned the water on. After he shed his clothing, he immediately stepped into the hot water. Yami stood perfectly still, letting the water cascade over his body and loosen his muscles. He closed his eyes in solace, a feeling that nothing in his life gave him anymore. He stood there for over half an hour and turned the water off. He knew he hadn't had a proper shower; that wasn't the purpose he had this morning. He would take an actual shower later. But for now he had just wanted to use the water to relax.

He wrapped the towel around his waist and stood looking at his reflection. His appearance was haphazard; his hair was in need of a good brushing and there were dark purplish circles under his slightly dulled eyes. His skin was whiter than it usually was and his posture was horrible, making him look inches shorter than he really was. He considered trying to make his appearance better, but then again, what was the point? There was a good chance Yugi wouldn't be awake to see what he looked like anyway. He rummaged around in his closet to see what he was in the mood to wear. He finally decided on an overly big, gray short sleeved shirt and a pair of baggy brown cargo pants. He didn't think twice about the fact that he didn't match very well; the only person that would even have a chance of seeing him wasn't going to be able to.

By now it was after ten in the morning. No one was expecting him to come out of his room for another few days or so, so he startled Seto when he ventured into the kitchen, silently gliding across the room like a ghost, and effortlessly pushed open the patio door. Once outside, his feet started moving toward the hospital immediately. He didn't have to think of where to go, which was a good thing since he couldn't seem to form coherent thoughts in his head. He continued walking until he came to the front door of the hospital. He pushed on the handle, not even considering the fact that it could be locked (which wasn't, as it turned out, because Seto had disabled the lock the day before). Upon entering the hospital he walked directly to Yugi's room. He gave no note of the room he had stayed in. No thoughts of the days spent in there came to him like they had done on the other occasions. For some reason he just couldn't think today. Finally, he reached Yugi's room and came to a stop in front of it.

He opened the door, stepped into the room and walked over to a chair after closing the door. All of his movements were slow and somewhat hesitant, as if his mind had suddenly started working again and was telling him that this was a bad place to be in. Yami sat down and stared at the floor. He just couldn't bring himself to look at Yugi. He could sit there for hours being in his friend's presence, but looking at him only to see someone who might as well be dead brought him pain. His mind was starting to clear somewhat. Now he could feel negative emotions and soon he would be able to think without there feeling like there was a brick wall separating him from his thoughts. He continued to stare at the floor for a long time until his mind became fully clear and he could think again. And now that his thinking ability was back, he realized where he was and a chill ran down his spine.

Finally, he found the courage to look up from the floor. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus so he could clearly see his surroundings. Yugi was, of course, the only thing he looked at. Everything else just wasn't important at that moment. Yami almost stood up and left when he saw Yugi. He didn't know why he was doing this to himself. Every time he saw Yugi it made him want to cry because he never got better. He wasn't even sure why he came every day. He didn't have to; Yugi would never know the difference and probably wouldn't care either way if he found out. Then again, if Yugi were to wake up again and he wasn't here, that might make Yugi feel like no one would ever come. He knew all too well what that felt like; he never wanted the younger to feel as if he were abandoned.

Yami sat there for a long time with no set decision in his mind. Finally, he just gave up on deciding. He would stay for Yugi no matter how much it hurt him. He would rather make Yugi happy than worry about how much pain he was in. He pulled his chair closer to the bed so that his knees rested against the edge. He reached out to touch Yugi's arm but then retracted it quickly. Yugi looked so fragile; Yami was afraid to touch him lest he hurt him. So he sat there with his hands in his lap and stared down at his hands. He still couldn't bring himself to look directly at Yugi. Yami continued to sit in Yugi's room for—he didn't know how long. It must have been a long time however, as he suddenly heard the outside door open.

The sound of boots clicking against the floor reached his ears and then the turning of a doorknob. The door to Yugi's room slowly fell open and a tall figure entered. Yami hunched closer to Yugi, ready to protect him at all costs if need be. He lowered his guard when he saw who it was, however. Seto quietly closed the door behind him and sat down next to Yami. He was carrying something odd-shaped in his hand that Yami couldn't recognize. An odd stare from him was all Seto needed to understand the silent question.

"It's your dinner. I was hoping you would want to eat something." Seto almost looked anxious; he wanted Yami to eat that badly.

Yami silently took the plate that was offered him. The reason he couldn't recognize what it was before was that the plate was intricately carved and didn't resemble a round piece of glass anymore. He really wasn't sure if he was in the mood to eat; nor was he ready to talk to Seto yet. All he wanted was to have some time alone to think. He also wanted to be near Yugi. And he doubted that Yugi wanted Seto in his room; he had no idea who Seto was and would probably get frightened to have a stranger so close. He stared silently at the plate for a few minutes more before he made a move to acknowledge that Seto was still in the room.

"Please Seto, I just don't want to talk right now. All I want is to be alone; just for a little while longer. Maybe I'll talk tomorrow if you still want to…"

Seto sighed sadly at his friend. He thought Yami had gotten over it and accepted the fact that Yugi might die. Finding him here should have been his first clue as to how wrong he was. He continued to watch Yami stare at his food a while before getting up out of his chair. "All right, Yami. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then…"

Yami just nodded his head slightly as Seto walked out the door and went back to the main house to finish his daily work. Yami's eyes were finally able to focus again and he glanced briefly at what Seto had brought him. It was a macaroni casserole with green beans and chunks of meatloaf in it. Anyone else would have thought this weird; it was one of Yami's favorite things to eat, however. He was a very strange person; he liked cold pizza and macaroni with green beans and meatloaf. He never knew were he picked up his strange eating habits. But Seto had gone through so much trouble to make sure that Yami ate something he truly liked. It would make him feel guilty not to eat it.

He picked at the food for about fifteen minutes, and then he couldn't take any more. He stood up and pushed his chair back against the wall. Then he walked out of Yugi's room and placed the plate on the small table in between the two chairs outside Yugi's room; someone would pick it up later. He walked back into the dreary hospital room and stood near the foot of Yugi's bed. He stood there for a moment and then whispered, "I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow, Yugi," he paused, "I promise," he added as an after thought. Without another word he left the room, only to wander his way back to his own so he could sleep for the night.

* * *

Yami visited Yugi the next day just as he had promised. He had gone to see Yugi the day after that and the day after that, until exactly three weeks had passed. It was now February 12, two days before Valentine's Day. Yami wasn't exactly sure why he remembered when Valentine's Day was; he had never had a reason to celebrate it. But thinking about it gave him an idea. There was no reason why Yugi shouldn't have a Valentine's Day. Tomorrow he would go into San Francisco and get a present for Yugi. But he needed to find something out first.

Instead of heading directly to Yugi's room as he normally did, Yami went downstairs into the den where he had found Laura sitting for the past week or so. She was still sitting there today, reading what seemed to be a very thick novel. He tapped lightly on the door so he didn't startle her when he walked into the room. She turned around and, bookmarking her page, smiled brightly at Yami. He honestly didn't think there was anything to smile about, so didn't return the gesture as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"And what gives me the honor of seeing you today?" Yami could tell she was poking fun to lighten the mood a bit.

"I have something to ask you. Actually, now that I'm here, I have lots of things to ask."

"Well go ahead; you don't have to get my permission."

"Okay, well, the first thing was, I was wondering if Yugi was allergic to outdoor things. Like pollen, for instance. It's okay if you don't know, but I just kinda figured you did because you've spent so much time with Yugi…."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "You want to know if Yugi's allergic to pollen? That has to be the most random question I've heard in weeks. But no, Yugi has no allergies at all as far as I know."

That was good to know. Now Yami could carry out his plan without worry. "My next question is, what kinds of things does Yugi like?"

There was an awkward pause between the two as Laura's face suddenly grew very serious. "You should know better than to ask a question like that," She whispered.

Yami was confused at first as to what Laura meant by that. Then it suddenly hit him; and it hit him hard. "Yugi never had the chance to…." He let his answer hang in the air; they both knew what he was going to say.

"Are you sure you still want to ask me anything else?" she snapped. Yami hung his head and looked away. He could feel Laura's angry eyes boring into his skin. He shuddered slightly and nodded his head slowly.

"One more thing…" he mumbled, "Why were you smiling earlier?"

At that Laura's smile came back just as big as it was before. "I went to Yugi's room this morning." There was a long pause and Laura continued to smile. It was almost like she wanted to build the tension as much as she could before letting it go. "He was asking for you."

Yami's head shot up and he stared at her in disbelief. "Yugi… Yugi is awake again?"

"Yes; why don't you go see him? He's been waiting to see you for quite some time now."

Yami only continued to stare; he gave no indication that he was going to move at all. Then he suddenly jumped over the back of the couch and ran down the hallway. Halfway to the kitchen he yelled a "Thank you!" to Laura, but he doubted she heard it. He ran through the kitchen and directly to the porch. He never missed a step as he opened the door and ran at top speed all the way to the hospital. When he finally made it there he collapsed against the door and sat there for a minute to catch his breath. Then, composing himself, he walked calmly into the hospital. He looked collected on the outside, but inside there were so many emotions pouring through his brain that he thought he would faint.

Yugi's room came into sight and outside of it, looking into the room, were Seto, Mokuba, and Rosa. Rosa had Snapper; Yami had wondered as of late whom Snapper was staying with. Seto was having a conversation with a doctor; no doubt the woman in charge of making sure everything went right. A nurse jogged up from behind him and spoke to the doctor for a moment, then went inside Yugi's room. Yami got a little nervous at that. He was sure Yugi didn't want anyone touching him, and he was sure that the nurse had to do just that in order to check up on him properly. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a cry come from the general direction of where Yugi was. All rational thought left him and he ran into the room. In an instant he was a Yugi's side, stroking his hair gently and whispering comfort into his ear.

Yugi's eyes were clenched shut and he was trembling slightly. The nurse looked completely stunned and she wore that deer-caught-in-headlights look. She was muttering incoherent things to herself as she sat on the floor. Yami barely gave her any attention though. Yugi was more important and he needed more help than she did. He never stopped stroking Yugi's hair in an attempt to calm him down enough to open his eyes. Even after doing this for longer than three minutes, Yugi had his eyes shut as tight as ever. Yami bit his bottom lip for a moment and then knew what to do.

"Yugi," he whispered, "Yugi, it's okay, I'm here. Open your eyes, Yugi. It's okay now."

"N-no," Yugi rasped out, "Yam-mi."

"Yes, I'm here now. You can open your eyes now; it's safe." Yami was sure to speak as softly as he could so that he wouldn't have a chance of frightening Yugi any further.

"Yam-mi." Yugi repeated.

Yami frowned slightly. Yugi still wasn't convinced that Yami was talking to him. "It's me, Yugi. It's Yami. Can't you recognize me?"

"Yami? I-it's Yam-mi?"

"Yes, Yugi. I'm Yami. If you only opened your eyes you would see."

There was silence and for a while nothing happened. Then, slowly, Yugi opened one eye, followed by the other. There was fear in those eyes for a few seconds, but then it dissipated completely. "Yami…" Yugi breathed the word like his life depended on the very fact that Yami existed.

Yami stopped running his hands through Yugi's hair and placed a hand softly on the side of his cheek. "How are you feeling today?"

"Hurts." was the one word reply. Then he said more after pausing to catch his breath, "Was better… then… she came… scared…"

Yami didn't have to hear complete sentences for him to understand what Yugi was trying to say. "Shhh, don't be afraid. That was only the nurse; she didn't know you would get frightened so easily. It won't happen again."

Yugi nodded faintly. Yami could tell he was fading fast. The look in his eyes and his labored breathing was all Yami needed to know how tired Yugi was. Being awake for this long had probably exhausted him further than his body could handle. Yami rubbed the side of Yugi's face softly; Yugi closed his eyes in response and rested his head in Yami's hand.

Yami continued rubbing gently while he spoke, "Go back to sleep, Yugi. You need the rest." A sound of protest came from Yugi. "Go back to sleep; I'll be here when you wake up."

"Pr-promise?" Yugi's voice was barely a whisper.

"Of course I do. I promise I'll always be here for you."

Yugi just nodded again and completely relaxed against Yami's hand. After a minute or two his breathing evened out somewhat and Yami knew he was asleep. It was amazing. Yugi had been in the hospital for a full seven weeks and already he was awake and talking a little. It was more than Yami ever could have hoped for. After what had happened three weeks ago, Yami had been scared that Yugi would never make any more progress. Of course, Yami never admitted to anyone he was afraid. But for a time he truly thought that he would never get to see Yugi's eyes looking at him or hear him talking to him. Even with all the progress Yugi had made, he was far from healed. He still had a long way to go, and a long time yet to be in the hospital. Yami would be with him through it all, however. He had made that decision weeks ago. He wouldn't give up on Yugi as long as Yugi didn't give up on himself.

The doctor decided to interrupt the silence at that moment. Having finished her conversation with the nurse, she came up and stood behind Yami. "I'm glad you finally got him to sleep. He needs that more than anything fight now."

"I know," Yami said quietly. He wanted the doctor to leave; she might do something to cause Yugi to wake up, or she could scare him like the nurse did. Yugi had been through enough already without others making matters worse.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier; Jenna didn't know Yugi was so skittish."

Yami assumed that 'Jenna' referred to the nurse. He glanced in the general direction of where he last saw the girl. She wasn't there anymore. Instead, she was standing behind the doctor, still trembling slightly. Then, with a little prodding from the doctor, she stepped forward and knelt on the floor in front of the bed next to where Yami was sitting. She reached out with one of her hands to touch the bandages on Yugi's arm but stopped halfway. She cautiously turned to look at Yami. Their eyes met, her eyes widened, and she withdrew her hand quickly.

Yami stared at her for a few seconds longer, confused as to what she was doing. Then he realized that she was afraid of him. No him so much as his eyes, actually. The color red usually had a negative connotation; not only were Yami's eyes red, they were the color of blood. Even if he was just absently looking at something, his eyes made it seem as if he was looking for someone to kill. No wonder she stopped. Yami turned his head away from her and focused his attention on Yugi instead.

The nurse glanced at him for a moment, just to make sure, and picked up where she left off. She carefully lifted Yugi's arm and started to remove the bandages. When half the bandages were gone, the nurse picked up a needle filled with a yellowish-clear liquid. Then she took Yugi's hand, laid it in hers, and placed the tip of the needle to the pale flesh of Yugi's wrist. Yami became extremely nervous at that. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached out and grabbed the nurse's arm, stopping her from injecting the fluid into Yugi's body.

"N-no, please," he whispered, "you'll hurt him…."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the doctor wave someone over. Then someone's hand was suddenly on his arm and an arm was draped around his shoulders. He looked up to see Seto standing over him. "Let her go, Yami." Seto's voice wasn't harsh like he thought it would be and it made him want to listen to the voice. But he didn't want Yugi to get hurt again. He tightened his grip on Jenna's arm.

"Yami, she won't hurt Yugi. He's asleep; he won't feel anything. Please let her go so she can help him." The same voice spoke to him. He considered what Seto said to him. Yami shook slightly, causing the nurse's arm to shake also. By this time she had dropped the needle and let go of Yugi's hand so she wouldn't accidentally stick him with the needle. The pressure on her wrist tightened, then it was gone completely. She quickly took Yugi's wrist again, injected the fluid into the vein that was closest to his skin, and replaced the bandages on his arm. Then she and the doctor left without a word.

Yami stopped shaking when he saw that Yugi was okay after all. Seto let go of his hands and stood behind the chair he sat in. Yami reached out to stroke Yugi's hair again; it seemed to give him comfort as much as it did Yugi. Seto took him by the shoulders, made him stand up, and tried to lead him toward the door. Yami fought the whole time and eventually was able to get back into the chair. Seto sighed in frustration.

"Come on, Yami. It's late; you should go back to the house."

"I promised Yugi I would be here when he wakes up. I don't know when that will be, so I have to stay here to keep an eye on him."

"Yami, the shot that the nurse just gave him was a painkiller. He won't be waking up until late tomorrow morning, if that early."

Yami found that once again he had to listen to Seto. He quietly got up and walked over to his friend, following him back into the kitchen. A thick silence hung between the two all the way upstairs and to their respective rooms. They stopped at Yami's door first and he slipped away into his room without a sound. Before he could close the door, however, Seto had stepped inside. The silence persisted as they stared at each other and neither made any movements. Seto was the first to break the pattern when he walked up to Yami and pulled him into a hug. Not too long after, Yami hugged Seto back just as tightly. They stayed like that for a minute before Seto pulled away and walked back to the doorway.

"Yugi will be fine, don't worry."

Yami walked closer to Seto and hung onto the doorknob. "I'm not worried; not anymore. Thank you."

Seto merely nodded and continued down the hallway to his own room. With a sigh, Yami closed and locked his door so he could get ready to sleep that night. He crawled directly into bed, not caring if he didn't brush his teeth for one night or if he slept in his clothes. He turned the reading light by his bed off and pulled the covers up over his body, letting the thoughts in his head take him to the world of sleep.

* * *

Seto had said that Yugi would be awake by mid-morning. But he wasn't. He still slept, still and pale as death. His labored breathing was the only sound in the room. It was close to eleven thirty in the morning and Yami had watched Yugi sleep for the past seven hours. Despite what he had told Seto last night, he was worried and he always would be. He had gotten up early that morning in case Yugi got up before Seto said he would. But now it was almost noon and he still slept on. Yami wasn't sure how much of this uncertainty he could take. Waking up every day not knowing how things were going to turn out nearly drove Yami insane.

Still, he waited. He waited until the middle of the afternoon. He sat in Yugi's room the entire day and waited for something to change. All he wanted was to see Yugi look up at him; even if it was only for a moment. That would make living that day worthwhile. He felt responsible for the horrible things that had happened to his friend. All he wanted to do was make it better. He wanted to take Yugi home and show him all the wonderful things that existed in life. In Yami's mind, everyone deserved a chance to experience life the way it was supposed to be. He had gotten a chance, why shouldn't Yugi?

Yami sighed sadly and placed a hand on Yugi's nearest cheek gently. He ran his thumb lightly across the bandages that covered the other's face. He shifted his hand into Yugi's blood-caked hair and started running it through the dirtied strands slowly. He absently started to think of the things that had happened over the past seven weeks. Yami became slightly angry when he thought of all the pain Yugi had been put through. No one should have to go through that. _No one._ His hand unconsciously tightened on Yugi's hair and his facial features showed pure hatred the more he thought of the bastard that dared call himself a father. His hand continued to tighten and his nails dug into what he thought to be his palm.

All of a sudden he heard a strained whimper of a mixture of fear and pain. Then he felt the tips of his fingers become wet and he was snapped out of his daze. Yugi was looking directly at him, his eyes filled with pain, confusion, and fear. Yami pulled his hand away and saw tiny drops of blood on his fingertips, but no moon-shaped cuts in his palm. His eyes widened in realization as he stared at his hand. He wasn't sure how long he'd been staring when he heard Yugi's voice.

"Why do you hate me?" the words were raspy and barely audible. There was so much sadness in those words; it was like Yugi had just died inside.

Yami was absolutely shocked. "W-what?"

Yugi repeated the same words.

"Yugi, I- I don't-" Yami tried reaching out toward Yugi again, but Yugi gasped and recoiled slightly at the action.

"Get out."

Yami's eyes widened when he heard that. Yugi's voice was no longer sad. Instead, it held a degree of coldness that Yami didn't think Yugi was capable of feeling. "Yugi, please, don't-"

There were tears pricking at the corners of Yugi's eyes. "Just go. If you're going to hurt me, then I don't want you here."

Yami wanted to reach out to Yugi and tell him how sorry he was. He hadn't _meant_ to hurt Yugi, after all. He decided it would be better to leave Yugi alone for now. It was obvious that his trust of people wasn't too high. Even his friendship with Yami was on shaky ground at the moment. Yami stood and turned to leave. He shut the door behind him and leaned on it for support. His breathing was erratic and he found it hard to get air into his lungs. He stood on shaky legs and started to walk slowly toward the door. He was trying as hard as he could not to cry. At the first sign of a tear he ran.

He ran blindly down the hallway, slamming into the wall of the adjacent hall. He hit a doorway at an odd angle and a sharp pain erupted in his shoulder. Yami didn't care though; he deserved much worse than that. He regained himself, pulled open the outside door, and burst out into the snow. The tears were streaming freely down his face now. He ran for a few meters before collapsing into the snow. He continued to sob into the snow, telling Yugi he was sorry over and over again even though he knew the younger couldn't hear him. Before long, the cold air and fatigue of the day pulled him into the world of darkness.

* * *

Yugi watched Yami leave with great sadness. There was pain stabbing at his heart, and he knew it wasn't from any injury. He shouldn't have done that; he should never have told Yami to leave. Now that it happened, he couldn't even think of why he said that. It was true that Yami had hurt him, but there had to be some reason why. Yami had promised on the day they met that he would never hurt him; it _had_ to have been an accident. Yugi felt hot tears come to the corners of his eyes. He had made Yami sad and he hated himself for it. He had to find a way to make it better.

It would be hard to do, being confined to a hospital bed and all. Even if he was allowed to leave the room, there was no way he would be able to physically move from here to where Yami was. That was another thing; Yugi had absolutely no idea of how to find Yami. He didn't even know where _he_ was. He sighed softly and closed his eyes in thought. He was going to do this, somehow… Yugi suddenly became exhausted. The past few days' events had finally caught up to him. He rested his head further into the pillow and in minutes fell asleep to the sound of the heart monitor.

* * *

The date was now February 14, Valentine's Day. How could Yami forget? The calendar was practically screaming it at him. And today was the day he was going to give Yugi a holiday celebration; meybe the first one he had ever had. But things fell apart completely yesterday. He still hated himself for what he did to Yugi, and he didn't think that minor hypothermia was even a fraction of the punishment he deserved.

He wasn't sick or anything, he just couldn't warm up no matter how hard he tried. He didn't know how long he'd been in the snow when Seto and Laura found him lying there; no one knew. But evidently it was long enough to throw him into mild hypothermic shock. Now he was bedridden and on strict watch. After what happened last time he was supposed to stay in bed, Seto was taking no chances this time. Not only were Seto and Laura taking shifts watching him inside his room, but there were _two_ bodyguards in the doorway. It looked like they were guarding the room of the Queen of England or something. On top of that, the door was open and unlocked at all times in case Seto had to call Laura for help or vice versa. Seto knew how he felt about an unlocked door. And because of that, he never slept. He hadn't slept at all the previous night and his condition had worsened due to it. It was Seto's shift and Yami could almost see the concern radiating off of him. Or maybe that was just the medicine….

"You really should try to get some rest, Yami." Seto had said that at least six times over the past three hours.

"There is absolutely no reason you should be telling me this. It's _your_ fault I can't sleep in the first place."

Seto gave an exasperated sigh. This was just like Yami, always trying to make it harder for Seto than he had to. "Look; my shift ends in a few minutes. At least try to fall asleep by then. All I want is for you to try."

Yami stared at him. He stared for he better part of five minutes. No one said anything until it was time for Seto to leave. On the way out, Seto heard Yami mumble, "Fucking bastard, knows damn well I can't sleep…" Seto dismissed it; Yami got very irritable when he didn't sleep.

Yami waited until Laura entered the room before speaking again. He had devised a plan over the night and he needed her help to pull it off. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at him directly in the eye. He had an idea of what she was going to say: the same thing she had said her last shift.

"Please listen to your friend, Yami. He's only looking out for you. And as a nurse, I know that-"

"Listen; I need your help. I need to go to the city today."

Yami could tell how hard Laura was trying not to scream what she said next. "Are you nuts? You have hypothermia! The last thing you need is to go out into the cold and the people and all that other stuff!"

"I know it's not healthy, but I have to go!"

"Why is it so important to you?"

"You wouldn't understand…"

"Really? Try me."

"Today is Valentine's Day. I know that Yugi has never gotten anything on Valentine's Day before, and I wanted to give him something. You have no idea how lonely it makes you feel to think that no one cares…"

"And you do?"

"Actually, yes. I've felt like that a lot over the years. And I don't want Yugi to feel that way anymore. He's my friend and I care about him; I want him to know that. Please, I need you to help me get past Seto and into the city so I can get something for Yugi."

Laura looked thoughtful for a moment. "Is this why you asked me if Yugi was allergic to pollen yesterday?" Yami nodded. "Well, not much more harm can come to you than it already has, so I guess I'll get you out."

"Really?" Laura smiled. "So the first thing we have to do is get rid of the guards. After that all we have to do is sneak past Seto and get downstairs."

Together they devised a plan and ten minutes later they were ready to put it into action. "We are such evil people, aren't we?"

Yami smirked. "I'd say so." He started fake coughing and Laura put on a mask of worry. She put a hand to his forehead and gasped loudly, drawing the attention of the guards. Yami continued to cough and sank under the sheets. Laura kept the back of her hand pressed to Yami's forehead.

"Quick! One of you go into the kitchen and get a bowl of warm water and a small towel. I'm afraid I don't know my way there."

The guards glanced at each other and one of them walked off down the hall toward the kitchen. One down, one to go. The other guard fell for it as easily as the first. "And could you please get me some towels from the linen closet? I don't know where that is either. Don't worry; I'll keep an eye on Yami and Mr. Kaiba will never know you left."

The other guard left without a hitch. Laura turned back to Yami to see a strange look on his face. "Mr. Kaiba?" was all he said.

"What? I was speaking the language of the guards. That's how they refer to him, so I figured I would too."

"Anyway, that was great. They didn't suspect a thing. Get ready, though; they'll be coming back."

As if on cue, both guards came back with the requested materials. Laura told them she had to close the door to keep the heat in better and again, the guards didn't complain or question anything. Laura and Yami kept their voices to a whisper. "You think this will be enough towels to get to the ground?"

"I think so. And even if it's not, there's a snowdrift against the house; we can land in that."

"Leave it up to you to think I'm going to land in a snowdrift. Put a coat on so that you don't get any sicker."

Yami did so and then opened the window nearest the bed. He fiddled around with the screen and finally got it out. He placed the screen on the bed and Laura threw the towel chain out the window. She started to climb down the chain and Yami soon followed, bowl of warm water in hand. (A/N: For some reason I just can't picture a forty-something year old woman climbing down a window on a chain made of towels.) He set the bowl on the ledge and closed the window. Then he poured the water over the sill before it froze in the bowl. Within seconds the sill was completely frozen over. Seto wouldn't be opening that window until it thawed in spring.

They climbed the rest of the way down and then sneaked into the car garage. They found Yami's black car easily and were relieved to find it just as Rosa had left it; with the keys in the car and the doors unlocked. It wasn't really necessary for them to worry about anyone stealing the car since no one knew Seto lived here. But they hadn't thought about how they were going to get into the car until they were already down the makeshift ladder. Yami instinctively reached for the driver's door handle, but Laura stopped him halfway there.

"You've been through a lot over the past few days and you look exhausted. Let me drive."

Yami nodded in thanks and walked over to the other side of the car. As soon as he slid into the seat he found that Laura was right; he wanted to go back to sleep right then and there. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window but fought to say awake. He still needed to get something for Yugi. That was his original intent and he wasn't going to go back on it. Laura started the car and soon they were off Seto's property and on the main highway.

"You have any idea where to go or what to get?"

Yami started and glanced at her. He wasn't expecting her to say anything or to have much to do with the escapade. Not only that, but he _hadn't_ thought of what to get Yugi. He had never bought anyone anything for this holiday nor received anything, so he really didn't know what sorts of things were appropriate. He didn't even know why Valentine's Day was such a big deal. Why should someone have to wait for one specific day to give his or her friend or loved one a gift? But everyone else made it seem important, so he figured that he would get Yugi a gift anyway.

"I have absolutely no idea. What sort of things do people usually buy others on Valentine's Day?"

Laura looked at him levelly, since they had been sitting at a traffic light for the past minute. She stared for a moment more before a look of realization came to her face. "You're serious? You've never celebrated today?"

"No. I've never had a reason to."

The car started moving again. "No girlfriends, ever? Never been in love?"

Yami was silent. He didn't like discussing with others why he had never had anyone to love or even have a crush on. He decided to change the subject. "Since Yugi is my friend, should I even still bother with the whole thing? I mean, isn't Valentine's Day only for lovers?"

"My God did you have a suppressed childhood. No, not at all. It's quite common for friends to exchange gifts, such as flowers or candy or cards. In fact, that's where most of my gifts have come from over the years. I think it's wonderful that you want to get something for Yugi; he needs to know that someone cares as much as you do."

There was silence for a while and Laura suddenly turned off the road into a parking lot. It was a strip mall and two of the stores happened to be a florist and a Hallmark store. (A/N: Don't own that, don't want to…) they walked into the Hallmark store first.

"If anyone asks, you're my son and I'm taking you to find you a card for your girlfriend. Not that anyone will say anything, but this way in case they do we won't have to explain that you're my future employer and we only know each other through Yugi."

Yami didn't say anything. He didn't think that that was such a bad idea. But he still felt awkward for some reason and thought that speaking would only draw attention to him. The two escapees stayed in the Hallmark store for almost half an hour before they found a suitable card and then went into the florist to get flowers. Yami knew at least that flowers were a big part of the holiday. However, Laura had to explain to him that carnations were more commonly used in people his age than roses and what colors he should and shouldn't get. Twenty minutes later they got back into the car with everything they needed. It was a silent ride back to the mansion but there was no tension inlayed in it.

Yami fell asleep on the way back and Laura didn't bother him. She knew how much he had to push himself not to pass out on the floor of the store and she was glad he was finally getting some rest. If she had been a little more sensible she would have prohibited him from leaving his room. But she believed that in some strange way this excursion had helped Yami much more than it hurt him. He never would have gotten any rest otherwise. Laura had heard from Seto how Yami could only sleep with a locked door. She found this odd, for most people she encountered as a nurse wanted the door to be left open. Yami was just different from anyone else, and she didn't criticize him for that.

She pulled into the gate slowly so as not to draw unneeded attention to the car or the people in it. There was a problem, however. The gate was locked and she didn't know the combination to open it. Yami most likely knew, but Laura didn't want to wake him up. She sighed. There was no doubt that if she stayed there much longer that she would catch the attention of the guards. She reached across the seat and shook Yami awake. He started and nearly jumped completely out of his seat. It took him a moment to fully wake up and ask Laura what she wanted.

"The gate's locked. How do we get in?"

Yami leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes again. He muttered the answer as if it was burned into his mind, "Punch the number 3569845 and hit the orange button."

As the gates swung open Laura added, "Don't fall back asleep yet. You still have to give Yugi his gift. And fix whatever happened yesterday."

"I know." Yami didn't even question how Laura knew something had happened the day before. He was too tired to think.

He exited the car as soon as Laura parked it in its original space in the garage. He made sure not to forget the gifts and immediately started off in the direction of the hospital. He reached the door in a matter of minutes. His hand was on the handle when he hesitated. Should he go through with it? What if Yugi was still mad at him? He couldn't stand it not knowing if he would be welcome or not. He took a deep breath and entered the hospital.

* * *

Yugi heard the footsteps coming down the hallway, and they were getting closer. He wondered who it could be. No one had come since Yami ran out yesterday afternoon. For a fleeting moment he thought that it was Yami coming to see him. But Yami would still be mad, wouldn't he? Yugi held his breath as the door opened.

Yami stepped inside. Yugi felt the familiar feeling of fear well up in his stomach. Why would Yami come? He was probably so mad that he wanted to hurt him even more. But then, he didn't look angry. He stood in the doorway with his hands behind his back and his head down. Yugi didn't know what to think. For some reason he found himself getting more afraid with every minute that Yami didn't move.

Finally, Yugi had had enough of the silence. He wanted to know what was going on _now_. He called out quietly, "Yami?"

Yami looked up quickly. His face showed anything but anger. He looked sad to Yugi and he could have sworn a small amount of apprehension flickered across his eyes. He stepped forward into the room a little, but wouldn't get that close to Yugi.

"Yami, are you mad at me?" Yugi's words came out quiet to reflect how sad he suddenly felt. He was beginning to wonder if Yami had come here on his own decision.

Yami's eyes widened. He took a step closer to Yugi, and then another, and he kept walking until he was only standing a foot away from Yugi's bed. Yugi thought he was mad at him, and meanwhile, the whole time, Yami thought that Yugi would be mad at _him._ The whole thing had been one big misunderstanding. Neither was mad at the other, they were just worried that the other was. Yami smiled slightly and sat down. From behind his back he brought out the flowers and the card. He put the dozen and a half pink and white carnations and the card on the bedside table where the clock was.

Yami watched Yugi as he stared at the flowers in wonder. It was obvious that he had had little to no contact with the plant. Yami's gaze softened as Yugi's eyes followed the colored petals move across the room to rest on the table. He noticed that Yugi was trying to lift his arm to reach out and touch the flowers, but it created too much pain for him to do so. Yami took a pink carnation out of the bouquet wrapping and put it in Yugi's hand. He gently wrapped his friend's fingers around the stem and let his arm rest on the bed again.

Yugi was in awe. _No one_ had ever been so kind to him before. The gesture coupled with the warm, caring look in Yami's eyes said it all. Yami had never been mad, and the issue would never come up again. He glanced down at the flower he held. The stem was cool against his hand and the whole flower added color to the room. Now he knew how much Yami cared; how lucky Yugi was to have found a friend as good as Yami was.

"Thank you, Yami. For everything."

"You're welcome, Yugi." Yami's smile grew a fraction. "Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

---Scene: Yami, Seto, Soulless are in parking lot when they hear something coming from above them---

Shadow: (falling from sky) WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Seto: Who the hell is that?

Soulless: Umm, that's Shadow, the original authoress of this story

Yami: That's right, you were never properly introduced to her

Seto: So… she's here for…?

Soulless: I invited her here to—

Shadow: Hey, where's Yugi? He should be here by now

Soulless: Will you stay focused?

Muffled Voice #1: _You're_ telling _her_ that?

Muffled Voice #2: Yea, really!

Soulless: Who are you people?

Yami: (running in circles) Yugi!

Seto: (poking his trunk with a stick) Anyone in there?

Soulless: (rocking back and forth) The voices are out to get me!

Shadow: Am I the only slightly sane person here! (waves magical wand of the authoress) (Seto and Yami freeze; Soulless is in a straight jacket again)

Soulless: NNNOOOOOOOOO! I just got this thing off last chapter!

MV's #1 and #2: Hey! What about us? Get us out of here Kaiba, you bastard!

Seto: That's what I was trying to do…

Shadow: Sorry! (snaps fingers and trunk opens)

Marik: Untie us now, or I'll cut your hands off and feed them to my dog!

Bakura: You don't have a dog, you dumb-ass

Marik: I was talking about you!

Bakura: Oh goody! Hands!

Shadow: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that…

Soulless: Say… Why is there an old lady's head in there?

Bakura & Marik: You don't want to know

Shadow: Of course we do!

Seto: No, I really think we don't

Yami: Hey, guys, now would be a good time to unfreeze me!

Yami: (is ignored)

Soulless: Tell us what happened. We were gonna point and laugh at you, but this sounds much more fun

Bakura: Well, the trunk was open just like Kaiba left it…

Marik: And this old lady was walking by…

Bakura: She saw us tied up and for some reason thought we were being tortured…

Marik: Yea, so, she decided to go all 'Wonder Woman' on us

Bakura: Which was the creepiest thing EVER! She had the uniform on and everything!

All: (group shudder)

Marik: She tried to get us out of the trunk but we were apparently too heavy…

Bakura: She did something and the trunk fell on her head and chopped it off

Marik: That was the cool part

Shadow: So, where's the body?

Yami: (shouting from background) You're standing on it!

Soulless: Cool! We can poke it with a stick!

Shadow: (snaps fingers) Go fetch us some sticks from that big tree over there!

Yami: Do I look like I wanna be a slave to you?

Shadow: Do it or you won't have a head!

Yami: Can I get sticks from those bushes?

Soulless: NNNOOOO! You must get them from that tree or they won't spontaneously combust!

Yami: Fine. (climbs tree) Hey! Yugi is up here!

Yugi: Get me down, please

Yami: How did you get up there anyway?

Yugi: I'm not sure. One minute I was sitting on the set and the next I was up here

Yami: Look who I found!

Shadow: Great! Do you have the spontaneously combusting sticks?

Yami: Here

Soulless: Whoo! (goes and pokes old lady with stick)

Shadow, Bakura, Marik: Poking fest! (join in)

Yugi: Poking fest?

Seto: They're crazy, Yugi. You won't notice it after a while

Yami: Should we join them or warn them that the old lady just caught on fire?

Seto: Neither would do any good.

Yugi: Why are they dancing like that?

Yami: It's creepy, isn't it?

Yugi: Sure is

Yugi, Yami, Seto: (back up slowly then turn and run screaming)

Bakura: What got into them?

Marik: Not sure. Let's keep dancing like weirdoes and chant until the body disintegrates

Soulless: Yea. After all, she was kinda murdered

Shadow: Kinda, but it was her own fault. Why did she have to be so creepy and pull out the 'Wonder Woman' costume?

(group shudder)

WAD #2: What will happen next? And why exactly is Shadow here? Will there be a plot next chapter?

Soulless: Bastard! (burns WAD #2 with stick)

Shadow: What did you that for?

Soulless: I don't know. It's just fun to yell 'bastard' and burn things

Marik: Really? Let me try! (turns to studio) Bastard! (studio burns to ground) Hey, that was fun!

Shadow: Marik! How is Soulless supposed to write anything now!

* * *

Okay, so since Marik burned the studio to the ground, he's banned from ever coming back and chapter six won't be up for a while. But there is a reason I called the original authoress here today. You see, she wanted me to write her story because she thought that high school would giver her NO time to do any writing. But now she sees that it's easier than she at first thought.

**Shadow:** Here's the problem: I want my story back because I have time that I didn't think I did. But Soulless over here has gotten attached to the story and also wants to continue writing it. We considered writing a joint story, but we can't agree on anything and are constantly at each other's throats for it.

Right. So if one of us were to write this, then it would still be updated more than once a year. But we don't know who should take the story. But then I came up with this, in my perspective, brilliant idea. See, I like yaoi stuff.

**Shadow:** And I don't. So we were thinking that we would let the readers decide.

Do you want this to be yaoi story? If so, I will continue writing it. If not, I will give it back to its original authoress and she can spend her boring days in the South writing about other stuff.

**Shadow:** Either way, the story will still be updated in a similar timeframe. I know what to do if I end up writing it, and the same goes for 'he who is currently the author.' We really need you guy's help on this. If you don't read the notes at the end, this would be a good chapter to start. You can vote for the next few chapters on whether this should be a yaoi or not, but we need to know the voice of the people.

So in conclusion, YOU DECIDE ON THE FUTURE OF THIS STORY!

That being over and done, I would like to thank gs, Jade (2x), Go-ruden Kiba, and Echoing Darkness for reviewing for chapter four.

And now, to Go-ruden Kiba: No, Yugi is not ten, he's sixteen. It was said in chapter two, and I think one also. (I'm too lazy to go look at it) That's okay though; he really looks like a ten year old.

**Shadow:** Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, and in your next review, be sure to vote on whether this story should become a yaoi or not! You only have a few chapters to vote, so get to it!


	6. When We Get Home

Chapter 6: Once We Get Home

Disclaimer: See chapter three

June 29, 2006 (12:52 PM): As of right now, this chapter is almost done. I'm not sure when in hell I'll be able to post it, but I hope it will be soon. Normally I wouldn't care about updating late, but I realize that I haven't updated since sometime in February. That's not right, and I'm sorry to have made you wait so long. I have been through a lot of serious shit since then and time just slipped away into nothing. I also went without access to a computer for over a month. So again, I'm SORRY because this chapter _could_ have been posted literally _months_ ago, and here it is the end of June and it's not up yet. I also had a serious case of writer's block; I would write something and then box myself into a corner trying to make it all come together, but I didn't want to rewrite anything cause then this chapter would _never_ get up. I think I've tortured you guys enough with my ranting, so I'm gonna leave it here. For all you who were patient enough to wait for this chapter, here's chapter six.

P.S.—The first part of this chapter sounds like there's something wrong with it, but I wrote it early in the morning and can't figure out how to fix it. Hell, there's something wrong with the _whole chapter_ that I don't know how to fix. So deal with it.

* * *

Yugi was frustrated. It had been another month since Yami had let him know what it was like to have someone who cares. Yugi was still in the hospital, though, and he hated it. He wanted to get _out_ of there already! Eleven weeks was torture enough, but the doctor said he couldn't leave until he had been hospitalized for at least four months. A week ago, he only had to stay for three months, but he was so excited that he had jumped up in bed and severely hurt himself. Aside from scaring the hell out of Yami (which he had admitted to only a few days before), Yugi had earned himself another month in the hospital.

Yugi absolutely _hated_ it in there. The doctors did three to four tests on him every day that were painful and left him bruised where the needle was stuck in. Yami was there for him every day, just like he had promised. Yugi smiled when he thought of Yami. He was the only person who had taken the initiative to be his friend and help him rather than make fun of him. Through Yami he had met Seto, whom he sure wasn't too sure if he trusted, and Mokuba, who was too hyper to actually go into Yugi's room. They both seemed nice enough, and they were happy that Yugi was doing well. Maybe he had made some new friends after all…

Yami was something else. He rarely ever smiled and seemed to look on the darker side of things. Even when he did smile, Yugi could tell that he was faking it to make the younger feel better. Yugi was very inquisitive and found himself often wondering why Yami was the way he was. Not that he was complaining, but it would be nice for him to see Yami truly happy for once. It was strange too, that when they had first met, Yami had a confident air about him, and Yugi could tell that he was courageous and strong, yet kind at the same time. Those were some of the things that had drawn Yugi to him in the first place. Now, however, Yami seemed to be almost afraid all the time. He was always looking over his shoulder, like there was something coming up behind him that would try to kill him. And the confident air was almost completely gone; Yami was always tense or nervous about things that he would never talk about.

Yugi was growing more and more worried with every day that passed. Yami always assured him that there was nothing wrong, but Yugi was no where near as naïve as people gave him credit for. He knew something was wrong and he wanted Yami to be able to confide in him. If Yami couldn't trust him with something so trivial, how could their friendship survive? Yugi sighed heavily. All he wanted was for things to go right for once. Why was that so much to ask? Yugi was completely lost in his thoughts and didn't notice the door open or someone enter until their shadow fell upon him.

"Good morning, Yugi."

"It's the afternoon, Yami. It's past two."

That was another thing that worried Yugi. Yami was coming later and later every day. Soon Yugi was afraid that it would get to the point where Yami wouldn't come at all. Something wasn't right. As he stared up at Yami, he could see the anxiety in his eyes. He looked so tired; there were dark circles under his eyes and he was shaking slightly as he stood there. He looked as if he were about to pass out any minute. There was a suppressing silence between them. And yet another thing that Yugi was worried about…

Finally he couldn't hold it in anymore. A sob escaped him, racking throughout his whole body and creating almost unbearable pain. But Yugi didn't care. He was in more emotional pain than physical; and emotional pain was more damaging. He continued to cry loudly, not caring who heard him. He was in pain and he needed some way to release it. He felt an arm gingerly wrap around his shoulders. Yami was trying to comfort him, not knowing why he was crying. Yugi only sobbed harder to know that Yami didn't understand what was hurting him. His crying made his ribs hurt so much that he started screaming while he was crying. This would probably make him stay in the hospital even longer, but he didn't care anymore. All he wanted was for Yami to go back to the person he used to be. He didn't know what changed within him, but he wanted it undone.

There were suddenly footsteps coming quickly down the hallway and the door burst open to reveal a doctor, rather frazzled looking and out of breath. This was a different doctor than Yami and Yugi were used to seeing. "What is going on in here?" he demanded.

Yami's voice was shaky, "I- I don't know. He was fine a few minutes ago, and then, he just—"

Yugi cried harder when he heard that. Now he wasn't sure if Yami was ever going to go back to the way he was before…. Yugi needed that; he needed someone strong he could lean on when he needed to. But Yami was just as fragile as he was. If he couldn't rely on Yami, there was no hope for him. He might as well give up all together.

"You have to leave now; I'm going to have to run some tests to figure out what's wrong."

As soon as the words left the doctor's mouth, something inside Yami's head snapped. His eyes narrowed and anger suddenly coursed through his veins. "Why don't you take your fucking tests and shove them up your ass? All they do is hurt Yugi and you never get any results from them. An idiot could see how much fucking pain he's in. You say that they'll help him. So far they haven't. Yugi has even told me himself how much those damn shots hurt. You're no different than any other doctor I've ever had the displeasure to meet. Yugi doesn't need to be tested; he needs to go home. The longer he stays here the worse he'll get. I know for a fact that he hates this fucking place as much as I do. So why don't you do everyone a favor and get out!"

"That is the most insulting thing that has ever been said to me in my entire career! You are a—"

"I don't care what you think of me! Get out of my sight before I have Seto fire you!" The doctor wasted no time in leaving. He obviously knew that Yami was in a position to back up his threat.

Yami stood there panting as his anger slowly subsided. He had no idea what had possessed him to display that much anger. He had never done it over the past three months and he didn't think he would ever do it again. He might have scared Yugi. He turned around at the thought of Yugi. The sight he was greeted with was strange. Yugi was sitting up in bed; he had stopped crying completely and he was… smiling. Yugi lifted his arm and held it out toward Yami. He took a few steps forward and stretched out his own arm until their fingertips touched. Yami understood now. He closed the distance between them and embraced Yugi as tightly as he could without hurting him.

Yugi was so happy that he almost started crying again. He knew now that even though Yami had changed slightly, he would always be strong enough for Yugi to lean on when he needed it. Though he may not always show it, Yami would always be there. Yugi could place his full trust in him and he had confidence that Yami would come through for him. As Yami hugged him he felt a sense of warmth and comfort that he had never felt before. Yugi weakly wrapped his arm around Yami's neck. He would never doubt his trust in Yami again.

* * *

Things were definitely better between Yami and Yugi as the weeks went by. Yugi seemed to be feeling better almost every day, which made Yami happier than he had been in a long time. He couldn't wait for the day when Yugi was finally well enough to go home and start living life the way it was supposed to be. Of course, he was still worried that something could go wrong, but he never let anyone know. Especially Yugi. He didn't want the younger to feel bad for making him worry. Yami found out long ago how sensitive Yugi was to other people's feelings. With Yugi being brought up the way he was, he always blamed himself for the things that happened to others. The poor boy was completely convinced that every stray cat and homeless person in the world was his own fault. And for some reason, Yami had a hard time blaming him for thinking that way…

Yami sighed; he was making himself depressed again. He had promised himself that he wouldn't do that anymore. Yugi had asked him once why he was so sad all the time, and Yami wasn't ready to answer. He thought it was nice of Yugi to care so much, but he really didn't want to talk to anyone about his mental state. That was one of the reasons he went to such great lengths to help Yugi. Throughout the years he had become mentally unstable in the fact that he didn't know how to deal with his emotions and so turned them into sadness or anger and bottled them up. He didn't want Yugi to close himself off like he had. At this point Yugi still had a chance to open up to other people, but Yami was convinced that there was no hope for him. So he tried to help Yugi deal with his problems as best he could. He knew he was being hypocritical to a degree, but what else could he do? He had never been taught how to work through his emotions…

Yami pulled the covers tighter around his form and glanced at the clock. Five thirty in the morning. Yugi wouldn't be waking up for at least another two to three hours. Although he was physically starting to heal, he was in a lot of pain from having twenty-one of his ribs broken; at least that's what he heard from the doctor. Yugi was in so much pain, in fact, that it was impossible for him to sleep naturally. So the doctor had him put in a drug-induced sleep every night, which usually had him out until eight o' clock in the morning. Yami wished that Yugi could sleep all the time and not have to feel the pain of healing. The doctor said that would be dangerous, however, so after a while Yami didn't think about it anymore.

Yami's mind seemed to stop functioning around that time, so he spent the better part of two and a half hours staring at the clock. When it finally turned quarter to eight, Yami dragged himself out of bed, slipped on a pair of shoes, and started for the door. He didn't have to bother changing out of the clothes he slept in because they were the clothes he had worn the day before, and Yugi didn't care how he looked anyway.

"_As long as I know you're going to be here, I have the will to get up the next day."_ The fact that Yugi had said that about a month ago made Yami feel like the most important person in the world. He would never forget what Yugi had told him that day.

The hospital was quiet, as it always was in the morning. The doctors and nurses didn't come until late afternoon when it was time for Yugi to sleep again. Yami looked forward to seeing Yugi every day. He was just glad that today was a Saturday, meaning that he was completely free today and tomorrow. About three months ago Seto had made him start home schooling with him so that he would have at least gone over some of the things he was supposed to be learning now. Because of this he wasn't able to see Yugi for more than an hour or two during the week. Yami quickened his pace. He could feel his time with Yugi slipping through his fingers. Yugi was the most important person in his life right now; he needed him the most. And Yami wanted to make sure he wasn't letting him down.

Yami walked into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb Yugi in case he was still sleeping. Yugi was lying in bed, awake, and he smiled tiredly when he saw Yami. He in turn placed a small, half-hearted smile on his face. Even the good news he had for Yugi today couldn't lift his spirits that much. He sat on the edge of Yugi's bed and for a while neither teen said anything. Then Yugi couldn't contain his excitement any longer.

"So did you find out when I can go home?" Yugi sounded so tired, but the happiness outshined it. Yami had never seen Yugi this happy before, and he voiced that to him.

"Of course I'm happy, Yami. I just have to wait a little longer and then I can go home with you, and I won't have to worry about anything anymore."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Yugi. All I want is for you to have a better life than you've had so far; you deserve so much better than that."

"Thank you for taking such good care of me. I know that without you I would be…" Yugi hung his head and lowered his voice, "I owe you my life."

Yami heard and felt the sadness emanating from Yugi. Though, he didn't understand why Yugi was so sad. He gently placed a hand under his chin and lifted his head so he could see Yugi's face better. There were tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Yami lightly brushed the tears away with his thumb as he spoke.

"Why are you crying, little one? You have nothing to be sad for anymore…"

Little one. Yami hadn't called him that since the day the two had met. It gave Yugi comfort in a strange way, a way he couldn't understand. He considered the nickname a caring gesture. It made him feel safe and warm to know that Yami liked Yugi enough to call him something other than his name.

"I'm crying because I owe you so much and I feel bad that I have no way to pay you back…"

Yami made a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a scoff. "When did I ever mention you having to repay me? All I want is for you to be my friend for as long as we know each other. I could use a few more friends."

"But I still feel that—" Yugi was quickly hushed with a finger being placed on his lips.

"It's okay, Yugi, and I prefer that you drop the conversation. Now, isn't there something that you asked me that was never answered?"

Yugi brightened almost instantly, "When do I get to go home?"

Yami hugged Yugi gently. "Two weeks, little one. Two more weeks and you will never have to see this place again."

Yugi grinned widely and leaned into Yami's warm, stable embrace. "Two more weeks," he whispered breathlessly, "I can't wait to go home, Yami."

* * *

Yami planned on visiting Yugi again on Sunday since he didn't have to do any schoolwork. By now it was mid-April, so all the snow was gone from the ground and the air was warm and breezy. He stood in front of his mirror, trying to find something suitable to wear for when he saw Yugi today. Before he didn't care how he looked, since he wasn't going anywhere where the way he dressed mattered. But lately, for some reason, he wanted to dress better than he had been over the past few months. Perhaps the fact that all he wore was loose fitting clothes was relevant.

Yami finally found a shirt that he liked enough to wear today. As he pulled off the shirt from yesterday, he realized why he never wore the leather he liked so much anymore. He knew that he had lost weight, but he didn't realize how much he had actually lost or how much it showed. Over the past few months Yami had been in a state of constant worry and anxiousness. He was so preoccupied with drowning in his total self-worthlessness that he seldom remembered to eat. There was also a long period of time when he couldn't sleep at all at night. Seto had found out and made him take a 'sleep aid' for a while, but Yami was afraid to take any kind of pills in case something went wrong or he got addicted or something.

Anyway, the point was that Yami had lost a considerable amount of weight and he didn't want Yugi to know about it so that he didn't get all worked up over nothing. Yami considered his problem as nothing because he was sure that he would be back to normal soon. But until then Yugi didn't have to know; in fact, Yami thought it a good idea that Yugi never find out. Yami slipped his new shirt over his head and got to the task of finding pants to wear. He finally found a pair of dark gray baggy cargo pants that he didn't know he had. He frowned when he put them on; they were too big, falling down past his hips and even beyond the reach of his oversized shirt. He sighed and fished a belt out of the closet, becoming even more frustrated when he put it on. Not even the hole that made the smallest loop made the belt small enough to keep his pants all the way up. They didn't fall all the way though, so it would have to be acceptable for now.

Yami sat on the floor and buried his face in his hands. Maybe this wasn't such a small problem after all…. Yami couldn't understand why this was happening. It wasn't like he did it on purpose or anything; he wasn't the kind of person to intentionally harm himself by not eating because he was depressed. In fact, Yami had a lot of things that he was grateful for and could be happy for. He just simply forgot to eat most of the time. Okay, so it wasn't that simple. There _had_ to be an underlying reason that he had no idea was there yet. Yami sighed again and stood up. He would think about this later; right now, he was late and he was sure that Yugi would be at least slightly worried by now.

He made his way downstairs and to the side porch by the kitchen. He stood perfectly still for a moment, enjoying the fresh, warm air of spring. It wasn't often that he got to go outside; he was usually in the office or doing schoolwork inside or stuck in his house because it got very hot around March and April where he lived. He glided through the long grass, his feet getting wet from the dew seeping through his sandals. When he finally reached the front door he was in much higher spirits than he had been less than twenty minutes ago. It was true that nice weather and sunlight made a person feel better; he made a note to remind himself to get outside more often.

Yami opened the heavy door and was met with a blast of cool air. He didn't realize how hot he had gotten outside until he was fully in the air conditioning. He continued on to Yugi's room quickly so that he didn't have to be in there too long without company. Even after being around the hospital for almost three months, Yami was still nervous whenever he came in there. He shivered all of a sudden, most likely not from the air conditioning. He reached Yugi's room and looked through the window, waving when he saw that Yugi was awake. Yugi didn't smile at him like he usually did, however. In fact, Yami wasn't even sure if Yugi acknowledged that he was there. Something couldn't be wrong; not when they were so close to leaving.

Nothing seemed out of place when Yami opened the door and stepped into the room. He frowned slightly and walked further into the room. Upon getting closer to Yugi he noticed that he was shaking badly. He quickly walked over to the side of Yugi's bed and almost immediately he was kneeling down and stroking Yugi's hair gently. A glimpse of his face told Yami that Yugi was trying not to cry.

"What's wrong, Yugi? Are you scared?" Yugi shook his head no. "Are you cold?" again, Yugi shook his head. "What's the matter then?"

Yugi closed his eyes and tried to stabilize his breathing. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs to talk. Finally he managed to say, "H-hurts."

"You're in pain? But that hasn't happened since you've been taking the painkiller…" something suddenly came to Yami's mind. "You did take the medicine last night, didn't you?"

Yugi nodded weakly. He was still shivering and breathing erratically. Yami knew he needed to get the doctor, but he didn't want to leave Yugi like this. There was little chance that Yugi would get any worse in less than a minute, and Yami knew that. He just wanted to stay and comfort Yugi as much as he could. He knew that Yugi would remain calmer if he stayed with him. Yami was at a loss for what to do. Finally, after a few minutes, Yami had decided what to do and he sighed. He stood up and leaned down to place a soft kiss on Yugi's hairline.

"I'll be back soon," he promised.

He hurried out of the room so he could find the office where he was sure the doctor was. He looked up and down the hallway for the office and finally found it at the end of the short hall opposite the door. He knocked on the door to see if she was in there and was relieved to hear her voice inviting him in.

"What can I do for you?" she asked when Yami entered the tiny office.

Yami quickly explained to her what was going on. She nodded in understanding and gathered a few things into a bag. Together they nearly ran down the hallway back to Yugi's room. Yugi was no better than he had been, but Yami was relieved that he wasn't any worse. The doctor checked Yugi's pulse against her watch and then felt his forehead. She was frowning slightly.

"Apparently the painkiller didn't work so well last night. His pain must be getting worse. Until I get a stronger dosage made, this will have to do." She pulled a syringe out of her bag. "Can you come over and try to get Yugi to calm down, please?"

Yami sat on the floor and started running his fingers through Yugi's hair again. He placed his other hand on the far side of Yugi's face and turned his head so that they were looking at each other directly. Suddenly he felt the muscles under his palm tense, and he looked over at the doctor to see that she had started to insert the needle into Yugi's wrist.

She looked slightly agitated. "You have to keep him from tensing, otherwise I might damage or break his vein."

Yami nodded and whispered nothings in Yugi's ear. It didn't matter what he said, he just knew that Yugi liked it when Yami whispered because he found it soothing. Yugi was still shaking horribly against Yami's embrace. Then he stopped abruptly; he was completely out of it.

"What was in that needle anyway?" Yami asked the doctor, concern etched in his voice.

"Nothing that will hurt him. It was basically just a low strength human tranquilizer."

Yami didn't feel any better after he was told what had been injected into Yugi's system. He felt more unnerved, if anything. He turned away from the doctor, not caring whether she decided to leave or not. He was more worried about Yugi than anything else. Even though he knew Yugi was unconscious and couldn't feel anything, the situation still stressed him out. So many things had gone wrong over the past few months. There was no telling if something else was to go wrong. Yami didn't want anything else to happen, but he knew that he really couldn't stop it. The fact that he felt so useless to Yugi frustrated him and made him anxious, worried, and stressed.

Yami sighed. Things just never seemed to go right for either of them; and they had never done anything to anyone. Yami placed his hand on the side of Yugi's face and let it lay there gently. He was absorbed in his thoughts and didn't notice when his thumb slowly started to stroke Yugi's cheekbone, right below his eye. He sat in that same position for a long time, thinking about any random thing that came to mind. Eventually he lay his head on the edge of Yugi's bed and was about to drift off to sleep when the door opened. He glanced in the direction of the door, registering somewhere in the back of his mind that the doctor wasn't there anymore.

Seto stood in the doorway; he had come to take Yami back to the main house. He didn't venture any farther into the room than he already was. The sight before him was slightly surprising. Seto had expected Yami to at least tell him off, not to just sit there on the floor and not acknowledge he was at the door. Not only that, but the way Yami looked when he was leaning against the hospital bed was so…. Seto couldn't describe it. It reminded Seto of how Yami looked all those years ago, so small and… frightened.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to Seto. Yami was truly scared. He would never admit it to anyone, but that didn't mean that he didn't feel it. Seto had never known Yami to worry so much over another person. In a way it was a good thing, but most of the emotions Yami was feeling now Seto was sure he couldn't deal with. Yami had never been good at showing others how he felt, especially with happy emotions.

At first, Seto thought that Yugi coming into Yami's life was a good thing. Yami seemed to have a weight of some sort lifted off his shoulders; the lifting of a metaphorical weight that left him more confident in himself. He thought that because of Yugi, Yami would find a way to dig himself out of the pit of despair and self-loathing that he had made. But Yami had actually seemed to get further into the hole. Not that Seto could blame Yugi for this; he knew better than to think that Yugi had done it intentionally or even by accident. No, there was something inside Yami that told him that he wasn't worth anything to anyone and that he shouldn't bother trying to be around others. Seto knew better than anyone that Yami's mental and emotional states weren't completely stable. A lot of shit had gone on in Yami's life to make him that way. And so Seto was hoping for some sort of miracle when Yugi come to the hospital; he was expecting Yugi to help Yami get better. Especially when Seto heard how much Yugi meant to the older boy. He knew he was expecting too much of the younger boy; after all, there was really nothing anyone could do.

Seto sighed and dragged himself out of his thoughts. He walked over to the side of the bed and touched Yami's shoulder lightly. Yami jumped as if he had really been sleeping and looked at Seto out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head fully toward Seto and stared at him, his question reflected in his eyes.

"Yes, Yami, it's time to go back now. And listen—before you try to protest, hear me out. I know that you want to stay with Yugi for a little while longer, but there's no need to. From the looks of it he won't be waking up again today. So please, come back to the house and get some rest. You look like you need it."

For a moment Yami didn't do anything, and then he nodded and sat upright on the floor. Seto walked over to him and bent down to his level. He put his arms around Yami's waist and tried to pull him up off the floor, but Yami pushed him away. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to keep Seto away from him. It was telling him that if Seto got too close then he would find out what Yami had been hiding for some time. He would find out about Yami's eating and sleeping problems. Yami suddenly felt violently sick. Seto wouldn't understand why he was doing what he was; he had never gone through those types of things. If Seto found out he would overreact and might make him get some kind of psychiatric help. Yami laughed to himself bitterly; the irony of the situation was that he already knew he needed help but wasn't allowing the one person who could help do anything.

He stood up on his own and walked toward the door. All he wanted to do was get into bed and see if he could sleep for once. He hadn't forgotten that he needed to eat this time; he just didn't want to. Perhaps he was getting worse…. Yami staggered out into the hallway, that sick feeling persisting and making him feel as if he was about to collapse. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that Seto was following him and talking to him.

"Yami, you're really starting to worry me; more so than you have been over the last few months. What's going on with you lately?" Seto reached out to support him, only to be shocked at his friend's reaction.

Yami quickly pressed himself up against the wall and hugged himself tightly. He slid down the wall so that he sat on his knees, trying anything to evade Seto's touch. He didn't feel comfortable with anyone being around him at the moment, and all he wanted was for Seto to realize that and leave him alone. Seto tried to reach out to Yami again, and this time Yami reacted more violently. He suddenly lashed out at Seto, hitting him in the collarbone with the juncture of his hand and wrist. Seto lost the air in his lungs for a moment and stumbled back onto the floor. When he finally regained the ability to breathe it was painful and a slight burning sensation went down his throat. He gingerly touched the spot where Yami had hit him; it would be bruised badly in the morning.

What had made Yami do that? In all the years the two had known each other, Yami had _never_ dome anything like this before. Frankly, it was scaring Seto to know that Yami had the ability to be this violent toward him. Seto steadied himself and stood up, using the wall for balance and leaning heavily upon it once he was on his feet. He glanced at Yami, who was somewhere on the same wall as he was. Yami was sitting on his knees and gripping his shoulders tightly. Seto could hear Yami's heavy breathing over his own, and upon further observation noticed that Yami was shaking. Was Yami as confused about what he had done as Seto was?

Yami grabbed hold of the wall and tried to pull himself up multiple times, eventually ending up fully collapsing onto the floor. Seto was at a loss for what to do. He wanted to help Yami as much as he could, but Yami wouldn't let him. He had been in this situation before. There had been another time when Yami didn't want Seto near him. Seto didn't think that Yami would do what he did before, however. Yami wouldn't let him get close so easily this time. All he could do was lean against the wall helplessly and watch Yami's vain attempts to get up. After falling to the floor for a second time, Yami lay still as if he had given up. Seto was afraid that Yami had hurt himself, but a minute or so later Yami tried to stand up again. This time Yami was able to stand for longer than a few seconds and he stabilized himself on the wall before attempting to walk.

Yami moved slowly, his movements reflecting his exhaustion. When he reached the point in the hallway where the wall turned the corner, he almost fell again. He hadn't noticed that there was no wall there and had reached out into the air. He stumbled forward but caught himself for fear that Seto would try to help him get back up. He didn't understand the things that were running through his mind. Seto wouldn't get too mad, would he? Seto would only be trying to help…. Yami was so confused. He wanted Seto to be there to help him, but at the same time he didn't.

Yami growled softly and continued walking. He knew that Seto wasn't following him, and Yami was glad he was keeping his distance. Yami knew he was sick; he knew that what was happening to him wasn't normal by any means. He wanted to get better too; only then would he be allowed to see Yugi again. Yami was barely functioning at the moment. His vision was blurred; he could barely make out the metal-plated door that was directly ahead of him, leading to the outside world. Yami walked into the door and fumbled for the handle for a bit. Yami found it and pushed down as hard as he could in order to unlatch the handle. Suddenly, without warning, all thought left Yami's mind and he fell to the floor with a light thud.

Seto's head shot up at the noise. He had expected to hear the door open and shut, but he had heard some sort of thud instead. By now Seto was able to stand on his own and walk like nothing had ever happened to him. He turned the corner like Yami had and nearly fell again when he saw what had happened. Seto quickened his pace, falling to his knees when he reached the door. He pulled Yami's unmoving body into his arms, just holding him like that for a while. Seto wasn't sure if he should be sad or angry; he didn't know if he should cry or scream. Hot tears started to fall slowly and silently down his cheeks. He should have known that something was wrong. He had known the whole time that Yami wasn't well, but he never thought it would get this out of hand.

And now his best friend was so sick that he had passed out in the hallway. Seto felt somewhat responsible for the occurrence. He could have done something; he could have helped. The fact that Yami didn't want him near him was no excuse. He should have done what he thought was right from the beginning; he should have disregarded what Yami wanted him to do. Yami would forgive him for it eventually, and none of this would ever have happened.

Seto picked himself up from off the floor, never letting go of Yami as he did so. He held onto Yami tightly with one arm and opened the door with the other. Once he was outside he shifted Yami so that he was carrying him with both arms and Yami's head was supported on Seto's chest. Seto was amazed to find how light Yami felt. Was this why Yami didn't want Seto to go near him? Was he afraid of how Seto would react to him weighing so little?

Seto sighed sadly and shook his head. Right now he should be focusing on getting Yami some help. He carried Yami to the patio by the kitchen since it was the closest place to the hospital. He peered in through the slightly sheer curtains and saw Mokuba sitting at the table eating his lunch. He kicked the door with his foot to get Mokuba's attention. Mokuba jumped up and turned around immediately, opening the door as soon as he saw Seto standing there. He was smiling brightly, but his smile faded instantly when he saw Yami lying in his brother's arms.

"Seto… what happened to Yami?"

"I'll tell you later, Mokuba. Right now I need your help getting Yami into his room."

"Sure, big brother."

Mokuba led his brother upstairs and opened the door to Yami's room for him once they got there. He pulled the blankets back when Seto told him to and watched sadly as his older brother put Yami in his bed and pulled the blankets back over his thin frame. Yami looked so frail; Mokuba had never seen him like this. Yami had always been his other older brother, and Mokuba looked to him for comfort whenever Seto wasn't there to give him any. Seeing Yami so weak was like seeing Seto in the same way. Mokuba had a hard time picturing it; up until now, he wouldn't be able to picture Yami that way either.

Seto stood up and placed a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "Will Yami be okay?" the younger one asked.

Seto sighed. "What do you want me to tell you?"

"I guess… I want to know the truth."

Seto guided his younger brother away from the bed and out of the room. He closed the door and brought Mokuba down to the other end of the hallway where their rooms were. Seto faced Mokuba and looked him straight in the eye.

"I don't know what will happen. The only thing either of us can do is hope that everything will work out in the end."

With that said, Seto walked into his own room, leaving Mokuba to do what he wanted. Once in the confines of his room, where he was sure no one could or would bother him, he crawled into bed and cried. He cried for life's constant twists and turns, for all of the loss that had gotten him and others this far. But mostly, he cried for Yami. He cried for the fact that Yami might become a memory to the people in this world, for the fact that he was so uncertain about what life would bring tomorrow, or even in a few hours. Seto cried harder than he ever had in his life, and he cried for an unknown amount of time until he finally fell asleep from the exhaustion of it all.

* * *

Things were not going so well anymore. Three days had passed since the occurrence in the hospital's hallway, and nothing had gone right since then. Yugi had heard about what had happened to Yami; to say that he had freaked out would be an understatement. Yugi still cried whenever he thought of Yami being sick and unable to take care of himself. Of course, Yugi being the kind of person that he was, blamed himself for what was going on. He truly believed that it was his fault that Yami was having trouble in his life. Yugi thought of the fact that Yami had come to visit him every day ever since Yugi had been in the hospital. Of all the times he had seen Yami, Yami had never eaten anything. Did that mean that he hadn't been eating for almost four months?

Yugi broke down again and cried. He hated himself for doing this to the only friend he ever had, the only person who tried to help him because he truly cared and not because he was told to. It was because of him that Yami never ate or slept; he knew that. Laura had tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, but Yugi knew better. He knew that Yami didn't eat because of all the time he spent with Yugi, and he was sick of it. He was so sick of the fact that he always screwed everything up. If it weren't for him, Yami would have nothing to worry about and his life never would have gotten this hectic and out of control. It had been three days since Yami came to visit him; Yami only went without seeing Yugi for this long if he was sick or mad at something. Yugi didn't want it to be _either_ of those things. He would prefer Yami to be mad at him rather than sick, but he didn't want Yami to be mad either.

Yugi thought of what would happen if Yami didn't want to be his friend anymore. What if Yami got so mad that he just turned his back on Yugi? He had promised that he would never do that, but Yugi honestly couldn't blame him if he wanted to break that promise. Yugi wasn't worth it. He had never been worth it. Yugi stopped crying and opened his eyes suddenly. He stared at his bandaged, slightly mutilated hands lying in his lap and all of a sudden he knew something. His father had always told him that he wasn't good for anything, that all he did was cause trouble. And the more he thought about it now, the more he came to realize that his father had been _right_. All this time he thought his father had been lying, trying to make him feel bad. But he knew the truth now. Yugi was _worthless_. He started shaking and tears slowly slipped from underneath his eyelids, Yugi having closed his eyes again a moment ago.

Then Yugi did something he didn't think he had the strength to do. He threw his head back and screamed. Someone came running into the room and threw their arms around him to try to comfort him. It hurt when the person touched him, but Yugi didn't care. As far as he was concerned, he deserved this. He deserved to be hurt and yelled at and left alone. He had been living a lie his whole life. Yugi had thought that his life held some meaning, and that one day he would prove his father wrong. That was the only reason he had held on for so long; otherwise, Yugi would have killed himself years ago. Now, however, Yugi knew that he had never been lied to, that he really was worthless, and he wanted to die. He knew that all the people that knew him would be happier if he were dead.

And Yami had acted like he cared.

That was the worst part of all. Yami had gone out of his way to pretend to be Yugi's friend so that he could turn around and hurt him, just like everyone else. But Yami had been so nice…. He had made it so easy to be his friend; he had made it so… believable. Yugi didn't think of how little sense he was making; he wasn't thinking straight anymore. He couldn't let go of the fact that his life was so fucked up. Yugi screamed harder. Whoever was in the room either wasn't there anymore or had just stepped aside. Yugi didn't care; it wasn't relevant. He wanted to die, and he would kill himself right there if he had the chance. Yugi screamed even louder until his body was shaking and the ringing in his ears drowned out his wildly beating heart. Through the pain he barely noticed his mind start to shut down. More and more parts of his mind went black until it was all gone, and Yugi fell back onto the pillow unmoving.

* * *

The news of this event reached Yami almost instantly. Within the hour Yami was once again fighting Seto to let him out of bed and let him see Yugi. He had no idea what was going on. What could have triggered the event that had happened less than an hour ago? What if…. What if Yugi thought that Yami didn't care anymore because he hadn't shown up for the past few days? Did Yugi even know the real reason? There were many more questions floating around inside his head; too many to think of answers for.

Since Yami was still rather weak, Seto won the fight easily and made Yami stay in bed. Seto was aggravating him to no end. He didn't think he would be able to get out of the bed he was currently sitting in ever again. Yami sighed heavily and leaned back against the headboard. No matter how annoying Seto was, Yami was glad he had someone to help him despite the fact that he denied needing help most of the time. He knew Seto was only trying to help him get better so that he could see Yugi again.

That was all Yami wanted. Yami wanted to go to Yugi and comfort him and tell him that everything would be all right. But until he got over his stupid problems he was confined to a bed with no knowledge if Yugi was getting better or worse as the days progressed. Yami pulled the blankets over his head and lay back down on his pillow. He started thinking about all the things that had happened over the past few months.

Yami thought of everything, from the day he met Yugi until the startling news he had just received an hour ago. There were so many memories, but most of them were unwanted ones. Yami seemed to remember how Yugi looked that Christmas day when he found the younger boy lying in the snow and how surprised he himself was when he saw the slight resemblance the two held. He remembered how scared of him Yugi had been the first time they met. Everything else that came to mind was no happier, especially the remembrance of the event that put Yugi in the hospital.

Yami sighed. Why was it that he couldn't think of anything happy that had happened over the past four months? _Probably because everything that happened has caused grief to everyone involved in it,_ his mind told him. Yami sighed again. What his sub conscience had said was true…. Why did things have to happen this way? Yami was practically begging for an answer. This time, however, the depths of his mind could not reply.

Yami soon realized what he had to do, however. In order for him to help Yugi, he had to see him again. Once he saw Yugi the two of them could help each other to start rebuilding their lives. In order to be able to see Yugi again, Yami had to start getting better. And he had to start now; who knew what would happen if he couldn't see Yugi for a few more weeks or even months.

Yami pulled himself up into a sitting position, which took some effort since he had been lying down for so long. He looked at the opposite side of the room, where Seto was typing at his computer. Yami listened to the clicking of the keyboard for a minute before the incessant noise got annoying. He cleared his throat to get Seto's attention. The clicking of the keys slowed but didn't stop, which meant that Seto was listening.

"I thought you were sleeping." Seto was the first to speak.

"I was just thinking."

"I would have preferred it if I still thought you were sleeping. You need to rest if you're going to—"

"I know, Seto, but I'm not tired." Yami was getting frustrated with Seto. This isn't how he wanted this conversation to turn out. It seemed that was all the two did now a days: talk about Yami's health and how much more he needed to try to feel better.

"Listen, I know you're just trying to help, and I appreciate that, really, I do," Yami paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "but sometimes I feel that you're trying to help a little _too_ much. I'm starting to feel like all you ever do around me is check to see how I'm doing, and whenever we talk it's always about my health and how I seem to be feeling better, even thought I'm not and you won't let me tell you that." Yami tried to keep his emotions from coming through in his voice.

The truth was, even though Seto was his friend and Yami knew he cared about him, Seto was starting to make him feel suppressed in a way. He didn't fully understand _why_ he was feeling this way. He knew that Seto was trying to help, as he had just told his friend. What he didn't say, however, was that when Seto wouldn't listen to what he had to say, it almost made Yami feel that his opinion wasn't worth listening to. Yami had come to a realization over the past few days: the reason he was as sick as he was now was from emotional stress. But it wasn't due to Yami being stressed out over Yugi's condition. It was because Yami was having emotional conflicts within _himself._

The fact that his best friend wasn't willing to listen to him caused the feelings of worthlessness to resurface from the depths of his mind. He thought he had overcome those feelings, but watching Yugi suffer for the past three and a half months, and knowing he couldn't do anything, made them come back. He didn't want to feel this way, but he couldn't get rid of the feelings on his own. He needed the help of his friends. No one was helping him, however. Yugi couldn't help because he didn't understand how Yami felt (which was really his own fault for not telling Yugi about his problems), and Seto was unconsciously making matters worse.

Yami knew that he needed to take responsibility and stop relying on everyone else all the time, but he didn't know how to do so. He felt so lost; he knew he should do this on his own, but at the same time he knew he could never help himself. The emotions flowed through him like crazy, making him dizzy and nauseous. This was too much. He couldn't handle all the emotions surging through him; he couldn't even identify half of them. Yami sank lower into the sheets and started shaking, trying to prevent the inevitable tears from coming to his eyes. _What was he going to do?_

Seto sat stunned to silence after he heard what Yami had to say. Why hadn't he listened? He was only making matters worse for his distressed friend. That was all he could think of for the next few minutes. What Yami said implied that Seto was making him feel worthless. Seto remembered a time, just a few years ago, when Yami felt like that all the time. When Yami felt like he was a burden to everyone, when he thought it would be better for him to not exist anymore. He couldn't believe that he was doing the one thing to his best friend that he promised himself he would never do. Once he saw how low Yami could make himself go he had promised that Yami would never feel that way again. He vowed to help Yami no matter what. And he had just broken his word. He would make it up to Yami; he would help Yami overcome these feelings if it was the last thing he did.

Seto noticed Yami's shaking as he came out of his trance-like thinking. He sighed sadly and got up from the desk chair. He made his way over to Yami's bed and sat down next to his friend on the edge of the mattress. He didn't get any closer than that, for he didn't know how close he could get without causing his friend to withdraw further into himself. He waited a little while before he dared to move in the least bit. He wanted to be absolutely sure Yami wouldn't push him away.

Seto waited for at least five minutes for Yami to calm down, but he never did. Yami was still shaking as badly as he had been when he started. This wasn't good. Seto needed Yami to be calm, otherwise Yami wouldn't listen to what he wanted to tell him. Seto found himself in quite the predicament. The only way he knew how to comfort Yami was by touch: a hug or a reassuring squeeze of his hand along with softly spoken words of encouragement and comfort. But he doubted that words alone would calm Yami down when the teen was in such a state. And Seto wasn't sure if trying to get near enough to Yami to try to hold him was such a smart idea.

Yami got mad when people pestered him when he wanted to be alone. Seto knew that he had definitely annoyed Yami greatly on several occasions, and at those times it took Yami a long time to get over it and forgive Seto. The decision should have been easy; either have Yami mad at him for a while or risk losing his best friend forever. But still, the thought of Yami hating him temporarily was too much. If Seto didn't make up his mind soon, Yami would be lost to him anyway. So he chose to take the risk. He wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders and pulled him close in one swift movement, hoping that in a few moments his actions wouldn't backfire.

For a long time now, Yami had felt depressed, sad, scared, and above all, cold. God, had he felt cold. The sensation swam throughout his body and tried to drown him. It was so numbing that his mind couldn't function properly; he had absolutely no ides what was going on around him. He felt himself start to lose control over his body. The only thing he could do was shiver to try to get the numbing sensation to go away and to get Seto's attention. Assuming Seto was still there. He remembered the other teen being there before he had started to shut down, but was he still around now? What reason was there for him to be?

Once the shaking started, he found it wouldn't stop. His shivering became more violent until his body was nearly convulsing on the bed. Then he felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. He tried as hard as he could to keep the salty water from escaping the prison he held them in. Yami did not want to cry. He didn't want to show how weak he was, even though he was sure that everyone could see right through him anyway.

And then, as suddenly as the cold came, it left. Somehow, it just vanished, and it was replaced with a comforting warmth that slowly started to thaw out his frozen body. As his senses returned to him, he felt something pinning him to the source of the warmth. He realized that the tears he had been trying to hold back were freely yet silently streaming down his face like a dam had broken. He heard his heavy, ragged breathing, and he felt his heart trying to burst from within the confines of his ribcage. After a little while, the fog started to clear from his mind and he became more and more aware of his surroundings.

Whatever it was that was giving Yami so much comfort was moving slowly, evenly, and it had a rhythmical pounding attached to it. Yami was soon able to recognize the pounding as a heartbeat. But that would mean that someone else was in the room, and that someone else was holding him. But who would…? Yami's thoughts ceased immediately as an image of a person popped into his mind's eye. It had to have been him; who else had ever been able to calm him so quickly and effectively?

Yami lifted himself into a sitting position and looked wide-eyed into unusually soft, cerulean-colored eyes. "S-Seto?" he asked quietly. Of course, he knew it was Seto, but he just couldn't believe he was really there. It could have been another cruel mind illusion, like the "flashback" to when he was twelve that he had had months ago. Seto nodded once in reply, and that was all Yami needed. He all but threw himself at Seto, flinging his arms around his friend's shoulders and digging his face into the fabric of his shirt. He heard Seto whisper something over and over again that sounded vaguely like, "I'm sorry."

By now Yami had forgotten completely that he had been mad at Seto before for not listening to him. He was just so grateful that Seto had stuck by him through everything. Not just what happened today, but everything that he had ever been through since he and Seto had met. He was also grateful that Seto cared enough to stand by him throughout the years. The more Yami thought about it, the more he came to feel that Seto was the closest thing he had ever had to family. And he couldn't ask for a better brother. Until now he hadn't realized how scared he had been just a few minutes ago. This had been one of the scarier times in his life; he really felt like he was going to continue to lose pieces of himself until there was nothing left. And yet Seto had taking the feeling away, and now it was like the whole ordeal had never happened. Or at least, it felt like it had happened so long ago that the pain from the experience was gone.

In a way, Yami figured that this experience was a good thing. Now he was more determined than ever. One day he would be as strong as Seto; he would be strong for Yugi and he would help his younger friend, just has he had promised. He would start now, with the first thing on his mind being getting well again so that he could take Yugi home. Once he and Yugi were out of the hospital, the real healing could begin.

Yami closed his eyes and released a sigh through his nose. He was rapidly becoming tired. The last thing on his mind as he drifted off to sleep was the promise he had made to Yugi all those months ago.

'_I promise you, Yugi, soon I'm going to be strong enough to help you. And then I'll make sure that no one will hurt you ever again. I promise…'_

* * *

Yugi had been worried about Yami ever since he had found out what had happened to him. But he wasn't only worried about Yami, he was concerned about himself. It was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't help wondering what would happen to him if Yami couldn't take care of him anymore. What would happen to him once he was deemed well enough to leave? He doubted Seto would kick him out before then; he was a nice enough person when he wanted to be. But he also doubted that Seto would let him stay any longer than absolutely necessary. He wasn't too sure if Seto liked him all that much, so he was willing to bet that Seto would not let him live here indefinitely. Then again, as long as Yami was there to make sure nothing bad happened, Seto would probably let him stay. Yugi could plainly see that Yami meant a lot to Seto; he would do just about anything Yami asked him to do. Seto and Yami had probably known each other for years, and Yugi thought that Seto might take on a "your friends are my friends" attitude after a while.

Yugi stared anxiously at the door. It had opened and closed a lot over a near three-week period, but Yami was never the one to come through it. That was all Yugi wanted; he would be willing to stay in the hospital for the rest of his life if he could just see Yami again. He was in no way exaggerating. Yami himself had already given up so much to help someone who, in Yugi's opinion, wasn't even worth it. The thought also scared him. He might end up waiting for the rest of his life for someone who might never come. Yugi had had a lot of time to think during the past few weeks, and he was sure Yami had been thinking too. What if Yami came to the conclusion that he didn't _want_ to take care of him anymore? It was very likely that Yami wouldn't want to keep going out of his way for Yugi. He might even regret ever helping him in the first place. If Yami didn't want anything to do with him anymore, then he wouldn't be able to stay there in the hospital for very long. Then where would he be able to go except to back to his father? Yugi felt his eyes water and his vision get blurry. A couple weeks ago, after Yugi had first heard about Yami's condition, he had tried to convince himself that he was overreacting. He told himself over and over that Yami still cared and that he would come to see him any day now. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself of that fact, he still fully believed that the worst would happen; he still thought that Yami didn't care. Yugi _knew_ that people couldn't be trusted; he _knew_ that nothing good ever came out of giving his trust to someone. Yet he fell for it; he let his guard down in exchange for a few kind words and an empty-hearted promise. Tears fell unhindered from his eyes.

'How could I have been so stupid?' he asked himself. 'Why did I allow myself to get tricked so easily?'

Yugi started crying harder, and soon he was sobbing loudly, causing his body to collapse from the strain and the intense emotions he was feeling. He would have fallen back if not for the pillows keeping him in a sitting position. He shut himself off from everything; he didn't want to have to deal with whatever was going on at the time. For almost as long as he could remember, Yugi had felt like he was standing near the edge of a cliff. He was far enough away where he could turn and go back, but he was always close enough where he could just jump off and see what awaited him at the bottom. he always had a choice, and neither option ever looked good. he could either go back the way he came and into the hands of his father, or he could let himself go and jump off. He had never considered jumping before; he had wanted to hang on because he had believed that there was a better life for him out there somewhere than the one he had.

But the more he thought about the cliff, the more curious he was as to what was at the bottom. So what if he jumped off? He was so close to the edge at this point that even shifting his weight around would cause him to fall. And maybe, just maybe, if he knew what was at the bottom, he could finally have some peace. He wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. What was there to lose?

With his head bowed, Yugi imagined himself standing on the edge of the cliff. It was cold, and the sky was a charcoal gray color. Yugi made sure not to move; at least not yet. Looking into the sky, he saw that it wasn't at all cloudy; just a dull gray. The air was warm behind him, and there was a soft white light emitting from seemingly out of nowhere. He heard some sort of noise come from behind him and turned his head just enough to see something emerge out of the light. It was a tree. It wasn't a very strong looking tree; there were no leaves on its branches, and it was a gray color as opposed to the normal brown. It was as if the plant had been dying and was now just starting to come back. Under normal circumstances, Yugi would have found a tree gliding toward him to be very creepy, but by the sight of it he was somehow comforted. He turned to face the cliff again, noticing how the tree kept moving until it came as close to him as it could possibly get without touching him.

Breathing deeply, the cold air from off the cliff stinging his lungs, Yugi backed up a step and turned around. Now the cold was to his back and he could see the world he would be leaving behind. He could see the soft light that he had partially seen before, but now he saw something else. The light was just a front. Behind the light were layers and layers of dark, thick, gloom. If Yugi unfocused his eyes, he could see past the lighter area and into the dark. The gloom was so dark it was almost black, but Yugi could still make out some details of the things that were there.

Something that looked akin to an animal was wandering around near the border of the dark and light areas. It was an animal that Yugi had never seen before; in fact, he wasn't even sure if it was real or not. The beast stepped forward into the light for a split second before darting back into the darkness. Yugi was completely horrified at what he saw. It looked similar to a lion, but its flesh was rotting and falling off. What was left of the flesh was stained a reddish-brown color with what seemed to be blood. Its teeth and claws were also covered in blood and glinted in the reflected light in front of it. The appendages looked silverish, reminding Yugi of knives, and proving to be just as sharp. The beast's claws made marks in the rocky ground whenever it took a step. But the animal itself wasn't the worst part. Yugi caught a glimpse of a chain attached to one of its back legs. Then he noticed something else bound to the other end of the chain.

Yugi almost fell to the ground and vomited when he saw what was on the other end. He couldn't tell exactly what it was; its body was mutilated beyond the point of recognition. He wasn't sure, but Yugi thought that its skin had been violently ripped off, and chunks of its body had been torn away with it so that its bones showed in some spots. The… thing was bleeding heavily and left a trail of the thick, oozing liquid wherever the bigger animal dragged it. Yugi felt horrible for the creature, whatever it was. It looked like it had been tortured until its death, and it hadn't happened too long ago since it was still bleeding from the mutilation. The lion-like animal had already gone out of sight, but the little thing was still in the light. From seemingly out of nowhere, a soft, greenish fog drifted toward the thing and hovered near it for a bit before covering it completely like a blanket. Yugi could have _sworn_ he saw the thing relax, but that wasn't possible. It was dead, right?

The thing was suddenly jerked back into the darkness. The fog didn't follow it, but instead removed itself from the dead thing and hovered in the negative space between the light and dark areas. Yugi continued to look past the light at the thing. Suddenly, for a split second, the lion came back into view and there was a scream. Yugi knew it wasn't the lion because the scream was more high pitched and it sounded almost… _human._

'It's still alive. Oh my God, it-it's still-' Yugi couldn't finish the thought. His vision started to blur and he fell to the ground on his hands and knees. He felt like crying and vomiting at the same time. But his eyes never watered and tears never fell. He started coughing, and his stomach flipped, but nothing came out. Then the thing screamed again, louder than before. For a fleeting moment, Yugi thought the sound was familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.

The tree next to him stiffened and its branches bristled and shook. If trees had faces, then it might have shown anger, but Yugi's mind couldn't think straight at that point so he didn't know what the tree was doing. He suddenly found himself wrapped in the plant. The leaves were soft against his skin and the branched didn't scratch him like he thought they would. Since when did the tree have leaves? There weren't many, but Yugi definitely remembered the tree being bare when he had first seen it. The tree was hugging him, it seemed, and it was slowly calming him down. The tree could sense his panic? Yugi shook the thought off as he gradually relaxed into the plant's embrace. The plant also seemed to calm eventually and put him back down on the ground in a standing position. Instead of moving back to where it had been, the tree kept close to Yugi, branches and leaves softly caressing and comforting him every now and then.

Yugi was no longer thinking of the poor, dying creature that the lion had dragged back into the darkness. Instead, something peculiar caught his attention. A seesaw came into view in the light nearest the cliff, and sitting atop the seesaw was a brown owl with light blue eyes and a black cat with grayish-blue eyes. The owl sat still on its side of the seesaw with an air of confidence surrounding it. the cat, however, was completely different. It looked in the direction of Yugi and the tree and started jumping up and down and waving at them frantically. It looked like that cat was smiling, not that Yugi knew what a cat's smile looked like. The owl shook its head at the cat's antics and then turned to see what it was waving at. It looked surprised for a moment, but then regained its composure and raised a wing nonchalantly into the air in what seemed to be greeting.

Yugi wasn't sure what he should do. 'Should I wave back? I've never seen either this owl or this cat before, so how could they know me?' something caught his attention as he looked back toward the seesaw. No matter how much the cat moved and the owl stayed still, the playground equipment didn't budge. There was no change in the machine's equilibrium; it was like it was glued in place to always be perfectly balanced.

He heard some rustling next to him and turned in time to see the tree move one of its branches above the rest and move it back and forth like it was waving to the animals. So that was what the cat had been so excited about. The cat and the owl knew the tree. 'This is getting weirder…' Yugi thought to himself.

But despite the oddity of the situation, Yugi found the tree to be kind enough, and he figured that the cat and owl would be the same if he got to know them. So then what was at the bottom of the cliff that he was willing to jump for? He wasn't sure what would happen if he jumped off; he had always _wished_ it would be better than what he had, but he never actually _knew_ if that would prove to be true. Now, seeing everything that there was on top of the cliff, Yugi was doubting the will to jump. He knew what awaited him here. Kind plants and animals that were willing to help him as far as he knew. Even the hovering fog seemed to be harmless enough. But what was beyond the edge? Yugi was starting to get nervous. He didn't know what he should do.

The whole point in coming here was to see what was on the other side. But now he was content on staying here, as long as the tree, the owl, and the cat were there to keep him company. And he might even meet more things that he could get along with. Yugi glanced up at the tree for a moment, contemplating his decision. He noticed that despite now having leaves, the tree was still grayed and brittle looking. And the owl and cat were relatively small creatures. Could he really depend on these things to help him in the future? Or would he be better off doing what he came here to do?

Yugi took a deep breath and hesitantly took a step forward. He thought he had made up his mind, but the curiosity and uncertainty was still unknowingly in the back of his mind. Before his foot touched the ground in front of him, there was a crack and the ground beneath him shook slightly. Yugi had no time to register what was happening when suddenly he wasn't standing on anything anymore. The cold, stinging air whipped around him as he fell, and all he knew was fear. All he could think about was how _scary_ falling was. He couldn't help the scream that tore from his mouth. As soon as the sound left his mouth, he wished he had never opened it in the first place, for suddenly he knew why the screams coming from the thing were so familiar.

He understood everything now. He knew exactly what was going on, and more than ever he wished he could have stayed up on top of the cliff with the things he knew. As he fell down further he screamed again, and he was finally able to cry. The tears seemed to float in the air above him, since they weren't falling as fast as he was. Yugi fell closer and closer to the clouds, but unlike before, he knew what would happen when he fell through them. He closed his eyes and waited for everything to be over. He felt the cold of the mist on his skin. It was a penetrating cold; it bored through his skin down to his very bone, freezing his body from the inside out. Yugi was expecting that, but he didn't expect to suddenly stop falling and be enveloped in a soft, familiar feeling.

The teenager opened his eyes, but all he could see was green. He was lying in a nest type structure made of bright green leaves and graying branches. He instantly realized that the tree was holding him. Not only that, but it had caught him in mid flight. The tree was a lot stronger than it looked, and was certainly stronger than Yugi gave it credit for. It slowly started pulling Yugi up from the mist, and when Yugi could see the top of the cliff again, he was the owl, cat, and even the greenish fog peering down at him. He smiled slightly, knowing that at least he had some friends.

"_Wake up, Yugi. Wake up, please."_ Yugi jerked his head up, looking for the source of the sudden voice. It sounded like it was coming from the sky. Was it another bird? But why would it be telling him to wake up; wasn't he already awake?

"_Yugi, come on, please. Yugi…"_ the boy in question was safely on top of the cliff. The tree hadn't let him go yet, as if it were afraid that he would fall again. The voice that he kept hearing was considerably louder up there, and he wondered if someone else was on the cliff that he hadn't seen before.

Everyone on the cliff turned toward the light that emitted from nowhere. Yugi understood what they were hinting at: the voice was coming from inside the light. The owl lifted its wing and extended it in the direction of the place from which it had come. "You want me to go in there?" the owl nodded. "But I don't want to leave you guys here. What if I never see you again?"

For the first time since he had seen the cliff, someone other than him spoke, "You won't really be leaving us, you know."

Yugi thought about this for a moment, and then he broke out into a semi-bright smile. "You're right. I won't. I guess I'll still miss you though." He paused a moment and then an amused look crossed his face. "An owl, huh?"

The owl scoffed, and the tree and cat snickered in the background. "Don't get used to it. And besides, it's your mind."

Yugi's smile got a little bigger at that. "You're right, once again."

Without another word, Yugi began walking toward the light. He could feel himself already leaving wherever it was that he was, and he was completely gone before he even touched the light.

* * *

Yugi blinked slowly, adjusting to the sudden brightness his eyes met. That had to be one of the weirdest, if not the weirdest, dream he had ever had. He wondered if it was actually a dream. Maybe that place existed somewhere in the corners of his mind, and it emerged when he needed it to. Yugi groaned. Thinking of it as a dream was much easier. He tried to move his head, only to find it leaning against something. Whatever it was, it was warm, and he liked the feeling. It was comforting. He then noticed that the rest of his body was warm. He tried to lift his head again, struggling as he did so. Something came into his line of vision before dipping down below where he could see. The comfort spread to his chin, and he felt something lift his head slowly.

As his field of vision tilted upward, he could see more of what was around him, although nothing was clear to him yet. His eyes locked onto two fuzzy circles of a deep red color. Everything finally came into focus, and Yugi found himself staring into blood colored eyes. Only one person could have eyes like that.

"Yami?" he was slightly surprised to find that his voice sounded strained and hoards. He wanted to shift his position so he could see Yami better, but something held him still. Yami was holding him, firmly but gently, just like he used to. Yami suddenly pulled him closer and rested his cheek on top of Yugi's head lightly.

"Oh, Yugi, I was so worried about you. I kept calling, but you wouldn't wake up and…" Yugi could feel the older teen shake slightly as he continued, "and I-I got… scared… I thought you were hurt, or," Yami let his words trail off, but Yugi somehow got the feeling he knew what the other was implying.

"You were really that worried?" he had to know for sure; he had to make sure that this wasn't all happening in his head.

Yami looked slightly surprised. 'About what?' Yugi wondered. He scrutinizes Yami's actions, but made sure that it was subtle enough that Yami didn't notice. The older teen turned his head away from Yugi and sighed. Yugi's question seemed to have saddened him. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and he sounded somewhat depressed.

"What would make you doubt that I care about you?"

Yugi's breath got caught in his throat. Yami sounded so dejected, almost like he was on the verge of tears. When had Yami cried before? Yugi couldn't remember ever seeing Yami show much of any kind of emotion; and when he did, it was never expressed in a way that would enable anyone to see it. Yugi had always had to pay attention to the other's tone of voice or the way his eyes reflected the light in order to know what he was feeling. The whole thing was making Yugi feel like it was his fault. As Yami's words echoed in his head, he found it harder and harder to come up with a reason not to believe him. He tried explaining to Yami what he was feeling, but his thoughts were so jumbled up that he wasn't even sure if he knew how he felt anymore.

"Y-you… I didn't… you weren't here… I thought… you were gone for so long… and-and-" Yugi was quickly getting frustrated; he couldn't find a way to get his thoughts out. He felt his face get hot, and his eyes stung. Why was he about to cry? Or rather, why was he getting so worked up about this in the first place? Yugi didn't have time to think of it before the felt the first drops of water try to fall and he had to sniffle to keep his nose from running.

Yami reacted immediately; he was good at that. In an instant he was wiping away the few tears that fell and pushing away his bangs to keep his face cooler. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered softly. "I was gone for a long time, I know, and I'm sorry for that too. I got sick and Seto, being as protective as he is, wouldn't let me go anywhere until he was sure I was feeling better. Believe me, I wasn't gone for almost three weeks because I wanted to be. I thought about you all the time, wondering how you were doing."

"R-really?" Yugi hiccupped, having stopped crying already. No matter how upset Yugi was, Yami was always able to calm him. He was glad that hadn't changed

"Yea. I hated not being able to see you. I-"

Yugi cut him off, "I'm sorry."

Yami blinked down at him, confusion evident in his dark red eyes. "What?"

"I'm sorry that I doubted you, and I'm sorry that I thought you didn't care anymore and-"

Now it was Yami's turn to cut him off, "Yugi, did you really believe that?"

Yugi looked away in shame. "I did. I thought that you didn't want to be my friend anymore because you hadn't come to visit me in so long. I didn't know the real reason then. The longer you were away, the more time I had to think about it, and I ended up thinking that you hated me and didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore."

"Yugi…"

"Please, Yami, don't be mad. I know the truth now; I just… It's just easier to think about negative things since that was how…" Yugi faltered, "that was how I was brought up…. I guess I'm still not used to being able to trust people. I think that in the back of my mind I was pretty much expecting you to leave eventually. I know it's probably hard for you to understand that…"

"No, I think I know where you're coming from. I'm not mad at you for it; you couldn't… you had no control over that." there was a pause and silence followed for a while after that. Then Yami remembered something, "Do you remember what I said to you a few weeks ago? I think it was only a couple of days before I got sick."

Yugi shook his head no.

"No? And here I thought you wanted to go home so badly."

Yugi stared at Yami wide-eyed. "H-home?"

"That's right. Did you forget? You're coming to live with me once you're well enough to leave the hospital. Right now you're long overdue."

Yugi just continued to stare at his friend. He couldn't make himself do anything else. "A-are you saying-"

Yami nodded and for the first time in Yugi's memory, he smiled. "We're getting out of here tomorrow."

For a moment Yugi didn't react to the news. And then he suddenly threw his arm around Yami and cried. He couldn't remember a time when he had been happier. He could finally leave his previous life behind and start over. As long as he remained in the hospital, Yugi was a prisoner of his past; he was reminded of the violence he had to live through every day. As soon as he stepped through the door of his new home, he would be free and he'd never have to worry about his father of anything else ever again.

Yami gently unwrapped Yugi's arm from around his neck and scooted near the other end of the bed. The whole time, Yugi hadn't been aware that it was the pillows supporting him, not Yami. His friend had been sitting next to him the entire time. "Why don't you get some sleep? It's been a long day, and you need to rest up for tomorrow."

Yugi nodded, "Okay. See you tomorrow?"

Yami's eyes softened, "See you tomorrow." He got up off the bed and walked toward the door. He opened it, but before walking out he added, "Promise." Then he slipped out into the hallway and the door closed behind him.

Yugi yawned and leaned back further into the pillows. He would take Yami's advice and get some sleep; he was exhausted. Even though he was really excited about going home, he was still somehow able to close his eyes and fall asleep. And for the first time in a long time, Yugi's dreams weren't nightmares.

* * *

Yami walked into Yugi's room around ten in the morning. He wanted to give Yugi all the time he possibly could to sleep because today was going to be a big day for the both of them. Accompanying him into the room was Seto, Mokuba, Laura, who was walking Snapper, Rosa, the doctor that he and Yugi were familiar with, and two nurses. Seto and Mokuba wanted to see him and Yugi off, while the medical staff was there in case something happened. Yami glanced over at the doctor, recalling what she had told him earlier that morning. She had held him up for over an hour telling him things that he really wished he didn't have to hear. Yami shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He didn't want to think about something that might ruin the day. He knew that Yugi viewed today as the most important day of his life, and Yami didn't want to bring Yugi down and make him sad on a day that was supposed to be happy.

He looked up and saw Yugi sitting in his hospital bed, being propped up by numerous pillows. Yugi looked like he had been staring at the door intently, and his eyes showed that he was somewhat worried. Yami sighed through his nose, remembering the conversation he had had with the smaller the day before. He called out to Yugi softly, and got an almost immediate response. Yugi smiled, and Yami took that as an invitation to sit next to him on the bed.

"You ready?" Yugi nodded and the two nurses came over. One was wheeling a wheelchair, and the other started unhooking Yugi to the different tubes and wires that had been attached to him for the past four months. They let Yugi just sit in bed for a few minutes in case he relapsed and had to be put on the IV again. Nothing happened, so the nurse with the wheelchair told Yami to pick Yugi up and put him in the chair.

Yugi whimpered when Yami touched his back. The painkiller that had been attached to him by tubing was starting to wear off. Yami hesitated, but Yugi assured him he was fine. Once he was comfortable in the wheelchair, or at least as comfortable as he could be, Yami put a blanket around his small form and wheeled him out of the room, down the hall, and outside. Yugi had to shut his eyes from the sunlight, but the heat the sun gave off was wonderful. He hadn't been outside in months and he couldn't even remember the last time he enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

By the time the group got around to the front of the mansion, Yugi had fallen asleep again. Yami picked him up and was about to get into the car when Seto stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Get home safe, okay? Don't get into an accident or anything."

"Why do you say that?"

Seto smirked, "Because I know you're extremely accident prone."

Yami smiled at that. It was a joke between him, Seto, Bakura, and Marik to poke fun at each other for the little things that either happened to them a lot or annoyed another in the group. Seto took his hand off Yami's shoulder and looked at Yugi. Even though he knew he was sleeping, Seto told him, "Take care of Yami." The one being spoken of looked puzzled, but Seto just said, "If he could hear me I think he'd know what I mean."

Yami accepted that and carefully put Yugi in the back seat of the car. Sometime over the past four months Rosa had gone back to his house and brought one of his limos to Seto's in case he needed it. He was grateful for it because now Yugi had a lot more room. It would be a long car drive, and he wanted his small friend to be comfortable. He stood near the car and waved goodbye to everyone, not wanting to get into an emotional goodbye that lasted for fifteen minutes. Rosa and Laura had already gotten in the limo. Laura was sitting up front with Rosa, figuring that it would be better for Snapper not to be so close to Yugi yet.

His goodbyes done, Yami got in the car and soon they were on their way home. He looked at Yugi sleeping peacefully on the seat and couldn't help but smile. He was lucky to have made a friend with such a kind person. Despite everything he had been through, Yugi still made an effort to be nice to others. Now that Yugi would be able to restart, he would be shown kindness in return.

"Once we get home, you can start to live the way you were supposed to. Once we get home, no one will hurt you anymore and you won't be in pain anymore." Yami started to get drowsy and the last thing on his mind as he fell asleep next to his friend was, "Once we get home…"

* * *

Hey! Authoress Shadow here, filling in for Soulless. I haven't been able to get a hold of him for a while so I figured I'd get this up before I left for vacation. Where am I going? To New York, the place of my birth! I was so excited that I couldn't sleep, so here I am, four in the morning on the day we're leaving typing this up for all you kind reading people and putting this up on the internet.

Now, you may be wondering, "What is up with her and the craziness of the metaphor and the symbolism?" And even if you weren't, I'll tell you anyway. I honestly have no idea where the idea of the really long metaphor near the end came from, but I thought of it and I went with it. Soooo, I thought up of a little contest-type-thing for all you people who read this. There are many, many symbols in the metaphor. In fact, it's mostly made up of symbols. So in your review, if you want, you can tell me **who** you think is represented by:

The Tree

The Owl

The Cat

The Fog (the one on top of the cliff)

The Lion-like Animal

The "Thing"

Also, see if you can tell me **what** is represented by:

The Cliff

The Light and Dark Areas

The Mist/Clouds (near the bottom of the cliff)

The Seesaw

The Air (temperature)

You only have to do that if you want to. If not, reviews are still appreciated! And LightAsAFeather, you can't guess cause I told you what everything meant over the phone!

So, anyway, I think that's it. The notes at the beginning of the chapter are from Soulless, but I agree with them fully. I'm really sorry this couldn't get out sooner, but things happen that way sometimes. I'm just glad I was able to get this out before I went on vacation. Cause then Soulless would never get e-mailed the updated version and it would have to be posted when I came back. I'm also sorry for any mistakes in spelling and grammar; I do not spell check before I post things.

I'm starting school like two days after I come back, so until Soulless starts school in September, he'll do most of the writing. Whether that means that chapter seven will be out by then, I'm not sure. But keep checking back. Till next time!

_Sunday, July 30, 2006_


	7. Shattered REVISED

Chapter Seven: Shattered

Disclaimer: …Seriously…

_**Please read the following note:**_

Okay, well, now that everyone hates me for taking so long to update this, I have more news. The reason I (or my co-author) haven't been updating is because of our home situations. Things have been getting… interesting around here for me to say the least. It includes my mother not allowing me to have friends, my phone as a result getting wiped and the number changed, and then me getting locked out of the computer (yes, even for school!). But I've been saving my money and finally got myself a laptop, which means I can work on my own stuff again. I've fallen completely out of contact with the co-author as a result of my phone thing, so I think I'm going to start by revamping the older chapters and taking the story in a new direction. So yes, that means the story is going to be pulled and redone. At the time I'm writing this chapter one is underway, and I do have to say that I like it much better. I was like 13-14 when the current chapter one was written and I've matured in my talents as a writer since then. So I think it'll be better this time around. Plus, it's been so long since I've even touched the current version that I've lost the sense of writing about it. It doesn't feel like a workable piece of writing anymore. Also, with years gone by there's a new generation of readers/writers, so I want to see how this new crowd handles a story like this.

So long paragraph made short: I'm starting over. I hope to gain new readers while still keeping the following of my old ones.

There are no changes to the chapter that this note goes with, but we're not allowed to make a full chapter an author's note. Plus, that's just not classy. I hate it when people do that, so why would I? Anyway, that's it for now I suppose. The revised version of chapter one should be up shortly (I have no idea how long "shortly" will be).

///// Start \\\\\

This was going to be one long car ride. At the speed Rosa was driving, it would take at least eleven hours to get home. And Yami would be bored the whole time through it. He had tried sleeping, he really had, but he couldn't stay asleep for more than a few minutes. Yugi wouldn't be waking up any time soon, or at least he hoped not, so Yami would have no one to talk to for a full eleven hours. He only hoped that he'd still have hair when the trip was over. They had already been on the road for over half an hour. Yami figured he should try to sleep once again, seeing as how there was nothing else he could do. As soon as he closed his eyes, however, he heard a loud groan and the seat beside him shifted slightly. He really thought he would be able to stay asleep that time too….

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the cabin of the car, his eyes finally resting on where Yugi lay beside him. Yugi stirred in his sleep and whimpered softly before lying still again. Moments later he moved again and let out another crying sound. It didn't take long for Yami to figure out that his friend was having a nightmare. He wondered if he should wake the younger or not. Yugi really needed the sleep, but having a nightmare wasn't going to help him any. He could easily hurt himself if he got scared and moved the wrong way or even fell off the seat. Yami lifted his hand to Yugi's shoulder in order to shake him awake, but he then decided against it. Yugi would probably wake up by himself if the dream got bad enough. Even though, Yami made sure to watch Yugi in case at some time it got to the point where he had to intervene. He sighed. He hoped that nightmares wouldn't be a regular occurrence with the younger teen. He knew from personal experience how emotionally taxing having bad dreams every night could be.

Yami suddenly felt light pressure on the side of his let. Yugi was pressing his face into the limb and curling up like he was trying to protect himself from something. He knew immediately what Yugi's nightmare was about. It wasn't one of those random dreams where someone imagines that they're being attacked by something or followed or falling, as Yami had first thought. His friend was most likely thinking about what would happen if his father found him. He frowned. Yugi had to wake up _now._ There was no telling how much damage would be done if the illusionary images running through his mind continued.

He got off the seat of the car and sat on the floor right in front of Yugi. He didn't want to cause pain to the other by moving him around a lot. Yugi turned on his side and his face scrunched in pain while he cried out breathlessly, but he still didn't wake up. Yami took the opportunity and placed his hands on either side of Yugi's face gently. Stroking his cheekbones and eyelids ever so slightly, he slowly turned the other's head so that he would turn onto his back. This would have one of two effects on him: he would either realize that something was happening outside the holds of his dream and wake up, or he would calm down and the nightmare would dissipate, allowing his to continue to sleep.

Much to Yami's surprise and dismay, Yugi did neither of those things. Seconds later he was screaming loudly and twisting on the seat to get away from Yami's grasp. Yami pulled his hands away instantly, and before anyone knew what was happening, Yugi was in Yami's lap sobbing into his shirt, the car pulled over, and Laura flung the back car door open.

"W-what happened?" she gasped out. Her eyes took in the situation quickly. Yami was tilling on the floor of the car with Yugi partially on his lap. He was rocking forward and back slightly and whispering something soothingly to Yugi, who was crying hysterically for a reason unknown to Laura.

Yami looked up at her when he heard what she said and shook his head, sighing lightly. He replied softly, "It's all right now. Yugi had a nightmare, but he'll be okay. He just needs to calm down a little more and go back to sleep." He went back to whispering to Yugi, who was already considerably calmer than he was when Laura first saw him.

"Well, I guess you're right. Do you want me to stay back here?" Yami shook his head no. She looked at Yami skeptically before agreeing with him. "All right then. Just be careful the rest of the way home, okay?" she didn't wait for Yami's answer before shutting the door, walking back to the front of the car, and getting into her respective seat.

Yugi had stopped crying by this time, but he was still breathing erratically. Having Yami near him made him feel so much better. He couldn't remember ever having a nightmare when he was in the hospital, so the experience was almost new to him. He still couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to have someone like Yami; someone who actually _cared._ He leaned into Yami's chest further, the older teen in turn holding Yugi just a little tighter. Yugi thought that Yami would say something but the car stayed silent. The elder must not have wanted to make him say anything before he was ready.

He looked up at his older friend, who felt Yugi shift and looked down to him, and tears welled up in his eyes again. He buried his head in the crook of Yami's neck and took slow shaky breaths to keep from crying. He really didn't think that Yami wanted his shirt any wetter than it was. He breathed in deeply and said, "It was so scary…" Yami didn't say anything; he just looked at Yugi and smiled lightly in encouragement. Yugi gathered the courage to go on, "I haven't had a nightmare in so long…. I… it was… I didn't have any," he paused for a moment, "in the hospital…."

Yami began running his fingers through Yugi's hair slowly. Yugi always liked it when his friend did that; it made him feel so at ease. He closed his eyes in content and listened to Yami's soft voice as he responded to what he had said. "I'm sorry, Yugi; I know how frightening these things can be. Do you want to talk about it? It might make you feel better."

Yugi was startled at that. _Did_ he want to tell Yami about his nightmare? Sure, he was scared, and he wanted Yami to make him feel better, but he didn't want to burden his friend with his problems. And he was sure that Yami wasn't really interested; he was just being polite. Besides, the other had enough to deal with already, with having to take care of him and all. Yugi sighed and shook his head no. He would deal with this on his own.

Yami didn't seem to be satisfied with that answer. "You can talk to me if you want to. Don't keep it in just because you don't want to bother me. If that were the case, I never would have asked you in the first place."

Again, Yugi was shocked. He never expected Yami to say something like that. Yugi was amazed at Yami's kindness. He himself didn't know much of anything about the older teen, and he knew that Yami didn't know everything about him. Even so, the young man was so eager to help, and was always there for him. Why shouldn't he tell Yami? If would probably make the elder happy for Yugi to confide in him. But for some reason, he still couldn't help but feel that the whole situation was too good to be true. The past few months had been rocky at best, but that was all over now. He didn't have to worry about getting hurt anymore, and he found that hard to believe and accept. He looked up at Yami worriedly, as if he were afraid the red-eyed teen would suddenly disappear. Even if this was only just something conjured up by his imagination, he didn't want anything to change. He still wanted Yami to stay with him as long as their friendship lasted.

He felt like he was going to cry again. Why did things have to be so hard? Yugi sniffled and curled closer to Yami. He felt finger glide through his hair and a soft voice whispered in his ear, "It's all right, little one. You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to."

Yami had called him that nickname again. He somehow knew exactly what to do and when to do it in order to calm Yugi. "Little one" was like a term of endearment, but it was something that only Yami could call him. Yugi didn't think he'd find it complementary for anyone else to do so. By using the nickname, Yami showed that he valued his friendship with Yugi, which was the most important thing to the younger teen.

The thought of Yami disappearing suddenly resurfaced. What would Yugi do if the one person who had ever truly cared left? It wouldn't be Yami leaving so much a vanishing due to Yugi waking up from a dream. Lying in the warm, strong arms of his only friend, making him feel so safe, was surreal to him. He still couldn't tell if everything was real or not. What if… what if the dream ended? What if it was his fault? If he burdened Yami with everything that happened to him, would he go away? If Yugi pushed him just a little to far, there was no guarantee that he would stay. Then he would be rudely awakened to reality to find himself in the same situation as before.

That would not happen. Yugi would not let that happen. He would not tell Yami anything until he was absolutely sure he could trust the fact that this was real. No matter how much it may hurt him, it was worth it to have Yami stay with him. A few tear droplets fell from his lashes as his eyes became half-lidded. He was so tired, emotionally and physically. He couldn't think straight anymore, and he didn't even hear himself speak, "D-don't leave me…"

Yami looked down quickly at Yugi when he said that. He had no idea where the comment came from. Did it have something to do with the younger's nightmare? He frowned, slightly frustrated that he couldn't figure it out. But no matter what Yugi was thinking to make him say that, the fact remained that he was uncertain about he and Yami staying together. Yugi needed reassurance that their friendship was always going to last, and Yami would be by his side for just as long.

"You have no need to worry about that, Yugi. I will _always_ be here for you, little one. I want you to remember that. No matter where life takes us, I promise I will never leave you. You are my friend, and you always will be."

Yugi didn't react, to Yami wasn't sure if he had heard him or not. But he had meant what he said, and he would say it again if Yugi wanted him to. Yugi sat still on his lap, with is eyes closed and small tears occasionally falling from them. He was probably exhausted. The nightmare must have been worse than he had thought. He sighed softly and shifted Yugi so that it was easy to put him back on the seat of the car. Yugi should sleep properly, with no disturbances, for a while before they got home. He gently placed Yugi on the seat and reached for a compartment near the front seats for a spare blanket to wrap around him.

He was sure that Yugi was asleep when he suddenly heard a soft, "Thank you," come from the little one. Seconds after, his breathing evened out somewhat and his body relaxed, signaling that he had really fallen asleep.

Yami yawned and stretched his arms upward, his hands nearly touching the car's ceiling. He looked around the cabin quickly, looking for something to keep him occupied. Sleeping was out of the question now. He needed to stay awake and keep an eye on Yugi in case something else happened. After all, they had only been on the road for about an hour and a half, and there were eleven hours left to drive. It was very likely that the whole rest of the car ride home would not be completely uneventful. Yami steeled in with his back against the car's seat and glanced sideways at Yugi for a moment. He frowned sadly.

He was a little disappointed that Yugi wasn't willing to talk to him about things. He only wanted to help, after all. Did Yugi still not trust him? He had done some stupid things before, he would admit that, but he had tried to make up for it. He tried to get through to Yugi that the whole world didn't hate him. Even if the whole world didn't particularly care, Yami did. He had done everything he could think of to let Yugi know that someone cared, that he had a friend. He couldn't think of why Yugi _still_ thought he was alone.

Or maybe… maybe he could.

Hadn't he felt that way once? It was a while ago, but it wasn't a feeling that one just forgot because a few years had passed. Yami remembered clearly what it was like to feel alone, abandoned, and hated. And he still sometimes felt like that, even now. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them. Th turned sideways and placed his chin on the top of his knees to that he was looking at Yugi.

"I understand," he thought out loud. "It's something so simple, and yet so complex. You were brought up that way, so you think that way. It makes so much sense to you, but to people on the outside, you seem troubled, strange even. But they just don't get it. I do. I understand your thinking pattern. What can I tell you that will show you that? What do I have to do for you to trust me?" he sighed heavily.

He felt tears coming. The water hadn't gathered in his eyes yet, but he could tell that he was about to cry. Yami quickly wiped at his eyes to stop any of the tears' attempts to fall. There had never been a time in recent years that he had felt so lost as now. He wanted more than anything to be Yugi's friend; he wanted to have a purpose. But if Yugi was too afraid…. He wasn't saying that Yugi didn't want to be friends. If that was how he felt, then why would he have let Yami help him in the first place? Yugi might _want_ to let someone get close to him, but he was probably afraid to, which Yami definitely understood.

This was so screwed up. Everything was wrong: the way Yugi thought, the way he was treated, the way he was brought up, everything. Yugi's thoughts and views would eventually tear him apart. Yami would not let that happen. It would be hard to prevent it though. He would have to erase twelve, and possibly more, years of damage. And based on how Yugi had been acting lately, he didn't have long to do it. Yami needed to think. He needed to find a way to start healing Yugi mentally. That was what was hindering him from healing physically. Looking over at Yugi one more time, Yami set on the task of figuring out how to help his friend.

///// Scene change \\\\\

Eleven hours. Yami had spent eleven hours thinking. And while he hadn't come up with a solid conclusion, he had many different option and paths he could take. He couldn't say the situation was any clearer, but the frustration he had felt before had melted away. That didn't make sense to him; if anything, he should be feeling _more_ frustrated by now. He didn't have a definite answer as to how to help Yugi, after all. He would have to think more on the subject once he got Yugi situated in his new home. He looked out the window of the car and saw that Rosa was driving over a bridge. That meant he would be home very soon, perhaps in as little as half an hour. He didn't have any more time to think now.

Yami yawned and stretched the kinks out of his back and neck. Looking for something to do, he started cleaning out the floor of the back cabin. He carefully pulled the blanket off of Yugi and started folding it to put it back where he had found it. He moved over to the hidden compartment and sat on something. Forgetting about the blanket for a moment, Yami picked up what turned out to be a tote bag. He frowned and looked around the car warily. When had it gotten there? He hadn't noticed the bag lying on the floor the whole way home. He probably wouldn't have even known it was there at all if he hadn't sat on it and might have left it in the car indefinitely. He wondered if it was something important. Surely he would have been told about something like that? Yami's eyes widened in remembrance. Wait a minute….

"_I'll have some things put together for you in a bag and sent home."_

That was one of the last things the doctor had said to him that morning. She hadn't said anything about what was in it, just that Yugi's life would practically depend on those things for a while. What else had she said…?

"I know you want to be on your way, so everything else that I need to tell you I've written in a packet accompanying the bag that I'm sending to your home."

_Now_ Yami remembered; the bag had some medicinal things (which Yami had no clue as to what they were), and the letter the doctor wrote. Those things were very important, so Yami thought he should take a look at them. He glanced out the window again and saw the rocky Californian coast barely out of eyesight. He had more time than he thought. Curious as to exactly what was inside, Yami unceremoniously dumped the contents onto the floor.

There were several plastic tubes with strange attachments on one end and measurements in milliliters going up the side. There were probably about over thirty of them, and they were in a sealed plastic bag. Inside the same bag but wrapped separately were things that looked like long sewing needles. Yami assumed that the two pieces fit together somehow, meaning that the things were syringes. There was also a tray with thirty-five compartments in it, seven going across and five from front to back. Each column of five contained five different colored liquids each in a separate vial with a mesh top. There were seven vials of each liquid. Yami also found a large white jar with no label and a blue cap, along with some smaller bottles that also had no labels. Instead, the smaller bottles had letters scribbled on their caps, consisting of: VA, VB1, VB2, VB5, VB12, VC, VD, VE, VK, Ca, Fe, P, K, Zn, and I. Yami recognized the symbols of the elements but wasn't exactly sure what the other bottles were for. Either way, he wasn't quite sure what to do with them, and was a little worried because of it. Hopefully the letter would help clear that up.

But where was the letter? It hadn't come out of the bag with everything else. Had it been mailed to his house instead of being put in the bag? Yami was a little disappointed that he wouldn't get to read what the doctor had to say until he got home. It wasn't that he was anxious to read it or anything, he just needed something to do, and he wanted to read it and get it over with. He knew that hardly anything in the letter would be good, and if he didn't look at it now he doubted he would ever have the nerve to again. Yami sighed. His frustration was coming back, all over a few stupid sheets of paper. Unless…. He grabbed the tote bag and turned it inside out. Sure enough, a packet of papers stapled together had been sitting on the bottom of the bag. Yami opened the tri-folded papers and read what the doctor had to say.

To the caretaker of Yugi Muto:

_I know I am probably the last person you want to hear from right now, and I can understand that. however, there are very important things I must discuss with you regarding the continuing health and welfare of my discharged patient, Yugi. I told you I would send some papers home, and what you are reading now is the top page of it. I want to make sure that Yugi gets the care he needs and deserves once he goes home with you. I am not suggesting that you will not take care of him; I am merely worried that you may not know how. I have been informed that you, like Mr. Kaiba, own and run your own company. I am asking you, though, to clear out your schedule as best you can in order to see to Yugi as often as possible and necessary._

_I trust that you have a knowledgeable and trustworthy person to fill in for you if you cannot change some aspects of your schedule under any circumstances. However, I would prefer you to be the primary caretaker of Yugi, since he already knows you well and will most likely be more comfortable around you. I also say this because I know you are Yugi's friend, and he has to do more than heal physically. I am hoping that you are already aware of this, but Yugi has a lot of emotional issues that need to be addressed and resolved as soon as possible. Half of the healing process is will, after all._

_Unfortunately, I have not given myself as much time to write this as I would have hoped, so I cannot go into detail about anything at the moment. The previously prepared pages will explain everything, including what to do with the other items you found in the tote bag I left with your assistant. You will mostly read things that I discussed with you on the day you left, but in these pages I can say more than I ever could out loud._

_Your primary goal for the first few months is to get Yugi comfortable in his new home and to help him heal in as many ways as possible. I also want you to work on getting Yugi to eat more, since he is no longer on the IV and cannot depend on it anymore. Because he hasn't eaten since he entered the hospital, maybe even longer, he needs to start the day you come home, or the day after at the very latest. He will not survive if you wait any longer. The second to last page is a list of things he should eat to maximize his intake of the nutrients he needs. He should eat like this for a few months, and depending on how he is progressing by then you can decide to change his eating habits or not. I will contact you in about four months for a follow up visit, and I expect some noticeable progress to be made._

_Also, even though this will be talked about more in detail in the following pages, I want you to know it now. The syringes and medication you have probably found in the tote bag __must__ be used every day. There is enough for a week's supply, and an extra set for you to give to your medical staff so they can reproduce it. Yugi should be given the shots at regular intervals throughout the day and you should give him the vitamin/supplement pills to him in the morning. The jar with the blue cap is an ointment that will reduce scarring, and it also should be used daily to get the desired effect._

_I am sorry to bring these things up to you at a time like this, but you need to know how to take care of your friend. I will not have anything happen to him because you did not know what to do out of my own carelessness._

_At any rate, I am confident that you will do all that you can to ensure that Yugi is well taken care of._

_Dr. Margaret Faille Hooper, M.D., EdD, Ph.D._

Yami was shaking by the time he finished reading the cover letter. How could he have let so many bad things happen? The letter didn't even specify anything that was wrong with Yugi; that was what the other ten pages were for. He had to take at least fifteen different kinds of medication every day, he had no idea _how_ he was going to get Yugi to eat anything, and he would probably still scar even with the ointment. Yami knew there were many other things wrong too, but he couldn't bring himself to think about them anymore. It would have been wonderful if he was able to just forget about everything and pretend that it was okay. He felt like he had to cry, but he stopped himself before he even tried to start. There was no time to cry; Yugi needed help, and he had to start now or else his friend wasn't going to make it very far. He had to be Yugi's stronghold for a while since the younger teen couldn't do anything for himself at this point. The last thing he wanted to do was lose Yugi. They had come so far already…. It wouldn't be fair for Yugi to die right when he had the chance to live a closer-to-normal life than he ever had.

The car slowly came to a stop somewhere. Yami looked out the window and saw manicured lawns, tall wild grasses past that, and the ocean out further still. He was home. He gathered the contents of the tote bag into a pile and placed them back into their place carefully. He did not want to break a vile or crack a pill bottle. Then he finished folding the blanket and put it in the mesh holder on the back or the front passenger seat. As soon as he tucked the last part of the blanket into the pocket, the back door opened.

He grabbed the tote bag, stepped out of the car, and took in his surroundings. He hadn't been here in so long that he had almost forgotten what his home looked like. He turned to the stone entryway and met an unexpected sight. The entire staff of house was standing outside the front door. Hundreds of people, most of which he had forgotten the name of, had come to greet him on his return home. Not a single person spoke or did anything that made noise, however. Could the entire house know about Yugi already? Yami noticed the faces of the people standing closest to him. Most of them were shocked or worried over something. He couldn't understand what that something was. He reached back into the car and gently lifted Yugi up off the seat. It took a couple minutes to take him out of the car since Yami wanted to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt him on anything.

When the people on the front lawn saw him, some of them started murmuring, but for the most part they stayed relatively quiet. It was easy to see that Yugi was sleeping. Yami started walking toward the house, the people in his way silently and willingly parting in front of him. He paused on the porch for a moment. Laura came up to the side and stood gawking at everything that she saw.

"What is all this?" she asked breathlessly.

Yami wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer. "It's… my house?"

The nurse turned to him. "You call this a house? This makes Seto Kaiba's _mansion_ look like a cardboard box!"

Yami just shrugged and walked inside. Everyone started to file in after him, but Laura didn't move. She was glued to her spot, still awed by the grandeur of the entrance to the mansion. Someone came up next to her, but she didn't notice until the person started talking to her.

"I was like that when I first came here too. I'm Leah. You must be the new personnel, Laura. Nice to meet you."

"How did you…."

"Know who you are? Simple. Word travels fast here. One person gets a call and within hours all seven hundred thirty eight staff members know the situation. That's why everyone was gathered out here today: partly for your arrival, but mostly for the arrival of Mr. Karasuma and his new friend."

"Karasuma? That sounds eastern. Is that Yami's last name?" Laura asked as she and Leah walked into the foyer.

Leah seemed a little agitated about something, but let it go and said, "Yes, it is. It's his family name, which traces all the way back to ancient Japan paternally."

"Why do you call him by his last name?"

"Because everyone here does. We either call him 'Mr. Karasuma' or 'Sir.' It's how we show our respect and our positions as his employees."

Leah seemed to talk in a polite enough tone, but Laura knew her words were close enough to a warning to be taken as seriously as one. Leah didn't appreciate her calling Yami by his first name, and she had better change her attitude quickly. She was no longer a guest in the Kaiba mansion; this was her first official day as an employee, and she should start acting like it. She sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was get off on a bad foot with anyone here. She was outnumbered over seven hundred to one.

"Hey, cheer up. I didn't mean to make it sound like you had done anything wrong. I realize that it's your first day here, so you're bound not to know how things work here yet. I just get a little carried away sometimes. When you've been here for as long as I have, (and when you're as old as I am) you find you don't have much tolerance for anything close to insolence or disrespect. You did nothing wrong, I assure you."

Laura nodded in response. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been here?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all. The more you know about this place, the better you'll get along with everyone. Let's see…. This summer will be my twenty fifth year here."

"Twenty five years? I thought Ya- uhh, Mr. Karasuma- was still a teenager."

"Oh, he is. His father built this place, and hired most of the staff, including myself."

"Ah, I see. So, what now? What am I supposed to do first?"

Leah smiled and grabbed Laura's arm, pulling her into the entryway and closing the door behind them. "Your first order of business is to get a tour of the estates by yours truly. Of course, we won't be able to see everything today; the property is too huge. Plus, it's already nine at night. So I'll show you what I can today and we'll finish up over the next few days. Why don't we start here, in the foyer?"

Laura turned around in a full circle. She didn't see anything so special about the foyer. In fact, she couldn't even see it at all. There were no lights on in the room. All she could make out was a table in the center of the room and what looked like two chairs placed against the wall. Leah didn't make any move to help her figure out anything about the room, so she started walking against the wall, feeling for a light switch of some kind. She continued running her hands along the wall for quite a while, when suddenly there was a click, and a few seconds later the room was bathed in silvery moonlight. Laura immediately looked up the dozens of feet toward the ceiling, only to be shocked to find it completely open. The moon was shining brightly through the opening, reflecting off everything in the room, making them have a corona like the moon did.

Leah chuckled. "It seems you've found the panel to open the ceiling. No, don't bother looking for it, it's actually a part of the wall. It's heat activated. However, the _lights-_" she paused for a moment and the lights in the room came on, "are voice activated."

Now Laura could see all the colors of the room. There were no actual separate walls, just one giant circle of a room. The part of the circle she was looking at was almost pitch black, with streaked spots of white running through it. Some of the spots were blue, and one was red. The only reason she noticed the colored ones were because they were bigger than the white ones. To her left and right, the wall lightened a few shades gradually and the spots thinned out. On the opposite side of the curve was something she was not expecting. A gorgeous mural of an island with what looked like a castle with multiple spires rising out of the middle was on the wall, with the sun shining right over the tip of the tallest spire. The sun's rays faded out into blue and eventually dark blue as Laura turned back to where she was looking before.

Leah came up beside her and palmed the wall. The ceiling closed again, and with the influence of the moon gone, the 360-degree mural stood out even more. "I will never get tired of seeing this painting. I think it's my favorite one in the whole main part of the mansion."

"It is very beautiful. Where did the idea come from?"

"Mrs. Karasuma had it painted. The island and manor on the wall are actually architecturally correct. In other words, we're standing in the foyer of the castle pictured. It was one of the last things she had done to the house before she… before the Karasumas finished it."

Laura had caught the break in her sentence. "Before the Karasumas finished it" was not what she intended to say at first. She knew Leah was keeping something from her, but she decided to pretend like she hadn't noticed anything. She didn't want to cause trouble; she had only been on the island for less than an hour.

"What other rooms can I see tonight?" asking that would throw thoughts of Leah's almost-slip-up out of mind.

"Well, the grand staircase room is through this way," she said, palming the wall again. A small hole appeared in the door and a keypad emerged from it. Added security, no doubt. Leah pushed a sequence of nine numbers into the keypad, and the mural split down the middle, revealing another room bathed in darkness beyond the newly disclosed door.

Leah stepped through the doorway into the other room and gave the command for the lights to turn on. Apparently, the sensor in the foyer had heard her also because the lights went out and the door started closing. Laura quickly walked into the other room before she was trapped in the dark foyer. She glanced ruefully at the door, as if daring it to try again to entrap her.

She turned her head toward the center of the room as she spoke, "Now, which room did you say we—Oh my…"

"And now I'm supposed to say, 'Welcome to Karasuma manor.'"

The foyer seemed modest compared to this room. There was no word in Laura's vocabulary to describe how extremely huge this entryway was. This room was circular also, and even though the ceiling was higher up, it was much more well-lit and easy to see. While this room was only painted one color, no one would pay attention to the deep red trimmed in gold. Why would they when there was a double grand staircase leading to the second floor? The dark wood was almost as dark as the walls, but somehow it stood out as if it was white. The steps were made of light tumbled marble, and the risers were the dark wood of the railings and paneled walls below the staircases. The two sets of stairs hugged the curved wall, making an alcove on the floor between them. The floor was made of the same light colored tumbled marble as the staricases' steps, with one exception. The sand like tiles on the floor had veins of red, gold, and black flowing through them. In the very center of the room was a black and gold spiraled pattern with points of a star coming from the center of the spiral. There was another similar pattern in the stair alcove, only it was smaller and less noticeable.

Leah somehow knew she was thinking about the alcove and said, "That's where the Christmas tree goes every year. It's too bad it's the middle of May, or else it would still be up and you could see it. Then again, it works out okay for you since this year's tree will be bigger and grander than last year's."

She started climbing the stairs, Laura slowly following. She thought there were paintings hanging on the walls, but they were actually murals painted directly onto the wall. Yami's parents obviously had more money than a hundred celebrities combined. Leah grabbed her arm and pulled her up the stairs and onto the landing on the second floor.

"You're moving too slow. It's late now, so we have to find Mr. Karasuma and get you set up with a room and station."

Laura merely nodded in compliance and allowed Leah to drag her through the house. Leah opened one side of a large double door directly in front of the landing and walked through. On the other side of the door was a glass tube with a carpeted walkway secured to the floor. Laura could just barely see that there were other walkways just like it coming from other parts of the second floor.

"It's too bad that you're coming through this way at this time of night. It's too dark for you to see the gardens, but the lights haven't come on yet. Maybe you'll be able to see them tomorrow."

"Everything is so beautifully decorated. Did Mrs. Karasuma design the whole house? I'd like to meet her one day."

Leah stayed silent. The walkway ended and flowed out into another circular room. This one had glass walls to look out onto the gardens and a large inner wall that Laura assumed was another room of some sort. One of the doors on the inside wall slid open with a touch of Leah's finger. It retracted back into the wall and the two women walked into the small carpeted area. It was larger than an average bedroom, but it was considerably smaller and barer than the other two rooms Laura had been through. The doors slid closed behind them and Laura suddenly found herself wondering where Leah had led her.

"Six." Leah spoke loud and toward the center of the room.

"Wha…ah!" Laura was not expecting the room to move. They traveled upward for a few seconds before she realized it was an elevator. "You could have told me you were taking me to…. Did you just say _six_? This place has six floors?"

"Yes and no. It has three floors for living space. The next two are for storage, and the sixth floor and the floor after that is the master suite. Oh, and I'm sorry, did you say something before?"

"Yes, I said I would like to meet Mrs. Karasuma one day."

Leah suddenly saddened quite a bit. "You can forget about that. It'll be impossible, since she's not here anymore. She's back on the coast, like she had wanted to be."

"You mean—"

"Yes, unfortunately so."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She paused. "This may be considered prying, but did Yami's father ever remarry?"

Leah didn't say anything about Laura calling Yami by his first name. "No, he didn't."

There was a thick, tense silence in the elevator after that. It didn't last long, however, because the elevator soon stopped and the doors slid open to reveal a white hallway. It was so plain and bare. No paint on the walls, white carpet, not even a piece of furniture or some flowers to brighten up the hall. Laura looked at Leah for some explanation, but the latter just shook her head 'no.'

She strode up to a door at the end of the hallway and knocked on the door twice. "Mr. Karasuma? Am I disturbing you, sir?"

There was no answer. Leah tried again. The knocked twice and called for Mr. Karasuma. Still, she got the same result.

She looked agitated. "Oh, where _is_ that young man? He's never in there when you need him."

Laura was shocked. Had she called Mr. Karasuma a young man? Did that mean that she was calling for Yami? She voiced her question.

"Well of course I was. Who else would be up here?"

"Wouldn't his father have the master suite?"

Leah pursed her lips. She had let something slip. She should remember to be more careful around Laura; she was smart. She had already told her more than she was supposed to. "Well, where do you suggest we look?"

"Where are the guest rooms? I'm sure his top priority would be to give Yugi his own room and make sure he was okay before coming back up here."

Leah checked her watch. "Are you sure he'd still be in there? It's been over an hour since he came home."

"I'm sure he'd be up watching Yugi all night if he could."

"All right, if you're sure," she sounded hesitant, but went back into the elevator anyway. She waited for Laura to step in behind her before saying, "Three."

The elevator ride wasn't as tense as it was on the way up, but the air was still thick. Laura got the feeling that Leah wanted to ask her something. "Go ahead and ask me whatever you want me to."

Leah was startled. 'How did she know what I was thinking about?' she wondered. She shifted her weight from her left side to her right side. "Why would Mr. Karasuma spend so much time with this new person? Isn't he just a friend? Or…."

"Ninety nine percent of the answer to that question is confidential. But what I can tell you is that Yugi needs a lot of attention and care right now. He has been in the hospital for over four months, and he just got out this morning. Yami is the only person who can take care of Yugi at this point, and he doesn't want to screw anything up. The last thing Yugi needs is for Yami to be careless."

"Oh, I had no idea. No one knows under what circumstances Mr. Karasuma's friend is here, so we've spent a while coming up with theories. But no one ever would have guessed that. Why was he in the hospital for so long?"

"That's the ninety nine percent of the answer."

"So I guess you won't tell me then."

"Sorry. It's not that I feel that I can't trust you, it's just that I promised Yugi I wouldn't tell anyone so…."

"No, I understand that." The elevator stopped. "We're on the third floor now, the one with all the guest rooms. Are you sure he'll be here?"

"Positive."

"All right then. Let's find Mr. Karasuma so you can find your place on this manor."

///// Scene change \\\\\

Yami was currently sitting on Yugi's bed, watching his friend intently. He had been sleeping ever since the episode with his nightmare earlier. That was almost twelve hours ago; shouldn't he be up by now? He was glad that Yugi was getting so much sleep, but how much was too much? According to the doctor's letter, Yugi had to eat and take his medicine every day, starting with the day he got home. Granted, it was almost ten o' clock at night and they had just gotten home, but he still felt like he was doing everything wrong.

Yami sighed in frustration. He shouldn't have allowed Yugi to come home yet. Yugi wasn't ready, and he definitely was not ready to take care of him. How could he have been so stupid? He was so excited to get Yugi home and out of the hospital that he didn't think of what it would do to him. Really, his motives were selfish to begin with. The main reason he wanted Yugi out of the hospital was so that he himself didn't have to go in there anymore. He hated hospitals: the smell, the feel, the memories. _He_ felt more comfortable, but what about Yugi? If he had been thinking about his young friend, he would have denied the offer to have him go home. Then again, maybe Yugi _was_ physically ready. Why else would the doctor release him? But Yami wasn't anywhere near ready to take care of him. He didn't understand much about what he had to do, and though Laura was there to help, she couldn't help with everything. While she knew about Yugi's situation, she didn't understand how much it hurt.

He was sure he would screw up somehow. At least Yugi would be safer in the hospital where they had the means to take care of someone. He could be monitored at all times, where there were various trained professionals to see to and take care of him, and there was all the equipment necessary to help him no matter what situation came up. He didn't have to worry about Yugi being able to eat anything; he would be back on the IV again.

Yami buried his head in his hands. There was also the matter of Yugi not quite trusting him…. He felt like he had to cry again. He hated feeling like that. He had been so weak over the past few months. He was tired of feeling weak. It reminded him of how he had been before, when he was younger, and of all the memories that went with it. If he kept this up, Yugi would never get better. It was up to him to help his friend; if he was weak in front of the young teen, then it would transfer to him, or he would lose confidence in Yami. Then there would be no hope for either of them.

Yami sighed. He had just added another thing to his endless agenda. Currently, he had to: gain back Yugi's trust, help him get better physically, help him heal his emotional scars, get Yugi to eat somewhat normally again, monitor his _own_ health, and keep his emotions from getting to Yugi. Great.

"How am I ever going to manage to do this?" he whispered to himself.

"Thankfully, you're not going to have to do anything alone."

Yami started and spun around to face the door, at the same time moving closer to Yugi protectively and wondering how he didn't wake up from all the movement and noise suddenly in the room. Laura stood in the doorway with a mixed expression of amusement and concern. Yami tried to calm his heavy breathing immediately, not wanting to show any more signs of being shocked than he already had.

"H-how did you get in here?" he cursed himself for stuttering, for showing weakness.

"The door was unlocked. I let myself in not even a minute ago. I was looking for you."

"Oh, well, have you found everything alright?"

"Yes, everything except for my room and my first assignment."

Yami looked thoughtful for a moment. "It'd be best if you stayed in the room across the hall. I'll call you if I need you, but everything seems to be fine for now." He turned away from her and focused his attention back on Yugi.

"Fair enough." Laura walked toward the door and rested her hand on the knob when she got there. Before closing the door behind her she said, "You should eat something." Yami didn't respond for at least a minute. Laura sighed and swung the door closed. She stood in the doorway for a moment, and just when she was about to retire to her room she heard a soft, "I know," come from inside Yugi's room. She smiled and walked across the hallway into her room to sleep for the night.

///// Scene change \\\\\

He really _should_ eat something. It would be the first time all day and it was already close to ten thirty at night. It was only the end of his first day away from doctors and everything associated with it, and already he was reverting back to his old eating habits. Yami sighed. The only reason Seto let him leave when he did was because he promised he would take care of himself. And while it was rather late at night, he had no doubt that he would be up all night anyway, so it didn't matter how late he ate something.

Yami sighed again as he picked up the phone in Yugi's room and dialed the number for the kitchens. He got the automated voice system, which meant the cooks were either busy with another order or not in the kitchens. The annoying digital voice asked him what he would like that evening. He made a mental note to have a better recording installed in the near future. All in all, annoyances aside, it was an efficient system. All he had to do was say what he wanted to order and where he wanted it brought. Everything else practically handled itself.

"I honestly have no idea what I want. Just bring something up to the third floor primary, central tower."

It wasn't unusual for him not to know what to order. There were literally thousands of dishes available, including ones native to other countries. There were even some bizarre things like stewed camel to appease as many people in the mansion as humanly possible. Yami shifted slightly to make himself more comfortable while he waited for his food. It would be up in a few minutes, depending on what the head cook decided to make.

He waited for a shorter time than he thought. Soon someone knocked twice on the door and a soft clank sounded from the hallway. Yami sat still until he heard the person walk away and the footsteps fade completely. Then he swung his legs off the side of the bed and stretched before heading over to the food and bringing it into the room. The tray had a covered plate and a glass of water, along with a napkin and the everyday utensils. He wondered what the cooks had made him. Every time he asked for something, he got something different, and sometimes they weren't what he would consider appetizing. Even after living at the mansion for almost two years, he still didn't think he'd eaten everything on the menu. He breathed out a sigh in anticipation of what was lying seemingly harmlessly beneath the cover and lifted the lid.

Yami stared at the meal in front of him. He didn't know what to think he'd been gone for a little over four months, and the head chef still knew him well enough to make macaroni casserole with meatloaf and green beans mixed into it. Even though he wasn't sure which side of the family he inherited liking weird food from, he remembered with a bitter smile why he liked this particular combination. The elders of the stuck up society he had lived in when he was younger were so uptight and sophisticated. He took a liking to eating the gross looking meal just so he could annoy and disgust the people he hated being around. And as far as he knew, neither of his parents objected. He didn't know why he ate it now. All he was doing was holding onto a time that wasn't really happy for him, even at the best points in those early years.

Yami returned his focus back to the present. Now was not the time for having philosophical discussions with himself. He looked back at the food and sighed. He was never in the mood to eat, but he was going to have to force himself to do so if he didn't want his health deteriorating any further. He took a spoonful that would have been considered a 'normal' portion and stuck it in his mouth. Yami was intent on finishing his plate of food, which meant that he would have to eat a little faster, before he completely lost the desire. Unfortunately, as soon as the food touched near the back of his throat, he gagged and had to spit it back onto his plate. It wasn't that the food tasted bad; it was the complete opposite. He couldn't understand what was wrong. He tried taking a bite from another part of the plate and nearly choked on that one too. What was going on?

Yami tried a third time, this spoonful half as small as the other two, and tested that one. This time he was actually able to swallow it, but he still felt like he was choking when the food got near the back of his mouth. He looked down to his plate and frowned, completely turned off to the sight of food. When had it gotten this bad? Yami hadn't been eating regularly in so long that even normal sized amounts of food made him gag. This wasn't what he had hoped would happen when he finally got home. He wanted everything to start getting better, but of course, things never went the way he wanted them to.

He knew there were a lot of things to work out, but he had absolutely no clue where to start. He also knew that he and Yugi had a lot to talk through, but once again, he didn't know exactly what those things were or how he would bring them out once he figured them out. He glanced at Yugi momentarily before turning the other way completely. Deciding that he couldn't eat anymore, he placed the tray at the end of the dresser on the left side of Yugi's bed. Then he stood up and stretched. He headed over to a door on the right side of the room and opened it, walking through the "Jack-and-Jill" bathroom that Yugi's room and the one next to it shared. He came into the secondary guest suite and almost immediately collapsed onto the bed with a heavy, frustrated sigh. If anything was going to get done, he needed to come up with a solution. He needed to think.

The distraught young man felt his eyes water, causing him to beat his fist into the pillow angrily. It wasn't even an hour ago that he had promised that he would show no more weaknesses. He wasn't very good at keeping promises. Come to think of it….

"What _am_ I good for?" he whispered to himself out loud.

He had started the day with such high hopes. He knew how he would have liked everything to turn out. But as soon as he got home everything had been shattered. He couldn't think of one aspect of his life that wasn't broken into tiny pieces and that didn't jab his hands every time he tried to put them back together. He felt a wave of depression and worthlessness hit him, trying to talk him into giving up the fight. He wanted so badly to listen to those feelings. What was stopping him? It was obvious that nothing was going to get better any time soon. His whole life had shattered, after all.

He would like nothing better than to give up. but he knew he couldn't. if he gave up on himself, what hope would there be for Yugi? He had promised that he would take care of Yugi and not let anything happen to him. And even though his promises probably didn't mean shit right now, he was determined to keep them. He wasn't counting on everything going smoothly from now on, or for things to be totally resolved when he woke up tomorrow. All he wanted was for everything to turn out okay in the end. It could take twenty years for that to happen, but if that was how it was supposed to be, Yami wouldn't push it. Yami closed his eyes and fell back onto the pillow. He would see how things were tomorrow. He would try to put together the shattered pieces of his and Yugi's lives, and if he failed, he would try again every single day after that until he got it right. Because he knew that once he got it right, everything that he and Yugi went through would have been worth it.

///// End \\\\\

And now a note brought to you by the author known as Soulless:

Well, that's it for this chapter. And yes, I know the ending sucks. Gimme a break here; it's late at night here and I just want to get this chapter DONE. This thing hasn't been updated in WAY too long and I want it to be posted already. This chapter wasn't as long as the previous couple, but I thought I'd give you guys' eyed a rest. And besides, if it were any longer, you'd have to wait who-knows-how-much-longer for it to come out.

Also, sorry if the chapter was boring, but it was necessary. Really, I don't consider any chapter in a story a "filler chapter" or "unnecessary." The main thing in this chapter was getting Yugi home (finally), and giving you a little more info about Yami's life, however sketchily it was done. As Darkyami7 pointed out in chapter six's review, not much is really known about Yami's life, current or past. Yes, Shadow and I are doing it on purpose, and eventually you will know the full story of both Yami and Yugi. Because yes, there's more to Yugi's life story than you know. All of these things have been planned literally years in advance, and it's great to see it finally get on the virtual page.

Now, for reviews: we would like to thank the following people: BlackRoseTenshi, Darkyami7, Sakura Laurel, and (as of yesterday, OMG) DarkRulerKida. Also, thanks to Sliferservant for the review for chapter one. For those who participated in the guessing thingie at the end of last chapter (and for those of you who want to know but didn't guess), here are the symbols in the metaphor from last chapter:

Tree- Yami

Owl- Kaiba

Black cat- Mokuba

Lion-like creature- Yugi's father

Blanket/Mist- Laura

Animal being dragged- Yugi

Cliff- Border of life and death

Seesaw- Balance between Seto and Mokuba (which Yugi wishes his life has)

Air- Cold air is death; hot/warm air is life

Edge of cliff- Mist/clouds- Uncertainty of death

Light and Dark- The darkness is the first part of Yugi's life, when he was young up until the point where he met Yami. The light is his life after he met Yami and up to the present.

There is a VERY lengthy explanation as to how everything ties into one another, but I don't want to crowd up my author's notes with it, and I'm too lazy to type it up at the moment anyway. If you want the whole explanation, PM me or say something about it in your review, and I'll dump it on Shadow and she'll get back to you.

Something else: sorry for the delay, but _someone_ coughshadowcough had a hard time with her floppy drive recently. She saves this onto a floppy, and all of a sudden it decided that chapter seven, almost all of it, didn't exist. She was able to print the first two pages (one of which was her notes at the beginning), but everything else was lost. And I don't even have a saved or hard copy around anywhere. This chapter would have been out sooner, but because the information was lost, we had to piece it back together over the past few months or so. But it turned out all right in the end because the second version was better than the first. So anyway, again, sorry this wasn't out sooner, and it was all Shadow's fault. _(Gee, thanks, Soulless…)_ You're welcome:P

From both authors: we just wanted to thank everyone who has anything to do with this story. Even you people who read and don't review, you still add to the number of page views, and the more we see, the more we want to write. Thank you so much for your reviews and/or reading. It means a lot to us!

This chapter posted on: _May 25, 2007_


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